The newly-appointed Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Ali Modu Sheriff, has been in the eye of the storm in recent days concerning his supposed links with murderous terror sect, Boko Haram.
Recall that many Nigerians had slammed the party for selecting Sheriff as its chairman in its bid to reposition to better take on the ruling All Progressives Congress in the 2019 general elections, with a prominent PDP chieftain, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode tagging the new chairman an “indisputable founder of Boko Haram.”
But in an interview with THISDAY, the former Governor of Borno State said it was totally untrue that he was a Boko Haram founder or sponsor, accusing his detractors of being behind a campaign to smear his name.
He said: “Boko Haram wanted to kill me at a time because they believed that I was the one that reported them to (former) President Umaru Yar’Adua to destroy their enclave.
“It was after I left government that they moved to their different camps and bushes. Why should they kill my brother? Why should they kill my family if I am a sponsor of Boko Haram? Is there anywhere in the world that you sponsor people to kill you?”
“Let me give you a typical example. Just a week ago, all the social media planted my picture showing me with the card of APC joining the party. At that time, nobody wrote that I was Boko Haram. They said Sheriff was going back to APC; they were showing a card when we registered with APC before I left the party. We went to our villages to do it; that village they are showing on the social media was a village that was taken over by Boko Haram for the past three years. So, how could I have gone there to register?
“Few days after I became the Chairman of the PDP, Ali Sheriff is now Boko Haram; so if you are in APC you are not a Boko Haram. Throughout my period in APC, nobody said I was Boko Haram. Immediately I left the APC, I was termed Boko Haram.”
He continued: “Nobody in my family or relation is Boko Haram or close to any Boko Haram member. These people that wanted to kill me, up till today, if they have the chance, they will kill me because they think I reported them to Yar’Adua who leveled their places of worship and along the line, their leader was killed.
“And that was my crime and why they wanted to kill me. But people that are afraid of me changed the story and they keep on doing it. Every day, they write different things but you and I know that nobody is above the laws of Nigeria. I believe that President Buhari, even if it is his son or blood brother that is a Boko Haram, he will arrest and prosecute him. So the allegation is the figment of the imagination of the writers.”