The public spat between former President Goodluck Jonathan and Borno state governor, Kashim Shettima is getting messier by the day as the ex-president has been accused of playing a role in the Chibok girls abduction saga.
According to Borno’s Commissioner for Education, Musa Inuwa Kubo, Jonathan deliberately concealed report of a Presidential Fact-Finding Committee he constituted and inaugurated on Tuesday, 6th of May, 2014 and which submitted report of findings to him on Friday, 20th of June 2014.
Kubo, who was amongst those interrogated by the committee, spoke in response to statement issued by Ikechukwu Eze, media aide to President Jonathan on Friday night, in which Eze challenged Governor Shettima to tell Nigerians whatever he knew regarding the April 14, 2014 abduction of over 200 schoolgirls by Boko Haram after attacks on Government Secondary School, Chibok in Borno State.
He also said it was there was never a time the Principal of Government Secondary School, Chibok was considered for any appointment not to mention being a Commissioner. He described the claim by Jonathan’s media team as an irresponsible mischief.
“For the purpose of records, Eze and his colleagues are pointing the wrong direction, they should ask their principal, President Goodluck Jonathan, why he deliberately refused to make public, the report of a committee he constituted, inaugurated and received their findings on facts surrounding the Chibok abduction and who is to blame for it.
To refresh their minds, on Tuesday, the 6th of May, 2014, President Jonathan had inaugurated multi-agency/stakeholder fact-finding committee under the chairmanship of Brig. General Ibrahim Sabo (rtd), a one-time Director of Military Intelligence and secretary of the Committee was from the Niger Delta.
President Jonathan single-handedly selected all members of that committee which included representatives of the UN, ECOWAS, retired and security officers from the Army, DSS and Police; representatives of the Chibok community, local and international civil rights organisations, representatives of the National Council of Women Societies, the Nigeria Union of Journalists and some of his highly trusted associates.
For nearly two months, the committee undertook thorough investigation that included forensic assessment of all documents on the entire issues, held meetings with parents of the schoolgirls, visited Chibok, met with the then Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Naval Staff, the Director General of the DSS and the Inspector General of Police, all of whom were appointees of President Jonathan.
The committee also met with officials of Borno Government including myself and the school principal, the committee held meetings with heads of different security agencies in Borno State including security formations in charge of Chibok and after compiling their findings, the committee submitted it’s report directly to President Jonathan on Friday, the 20th of June, 2014 in Aso Rock.
The question anyone should ask is why President Jonathan deliberately refused to make that report public. What was he hiding from Nigerians?
Here is another question, if the findings had indicted Governor Shettima or the Borno State Government in anyway, does anyone really Jonathan would have concealed that report given his open hatred for Shettima and the fact that the Governor was in the opposition party? Also, the issue of saying the Principal of GSS Chibok was appointed a Commissioner is an irresponsible mischief because Governor Kashim Shettima is neither foolish nor is he a daft ” the Commissioner said.
Kubo noted that if there was one Nigerian that assisted Jonathan in the fight against Boko Haram it was Governor Shettima who single handedly approved the funding of civilian JTF without any support from the Federal Government even when Jonathan himself repeatedly acknowledged the roles played by Civilian JTF in whatever success his administration recorded in fighting the insurgency.
He said the Governor supported Jonathan by funding security agencies and mobilizing community intelligence as publicly attested to by the then Director of Operations at the Defence Headquarters, Major General Lawrence Ndugbane. Kubo said Jonathan’s main anger with Shettima was when the Governor spoke out of frustration by telling the world that the Nigerian Military wasn’t being equipped.
He said the Governor’s claim has since been proved by former Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh and by issues the huge allegations on how funds means for arms were shared under Jonathan.
The Commissioner noted that President Jonathan’s decision to constitute that committee was a miraculous intervention by God to preserve the innocence of Governor Shettima and his administration.
He cited that if Jonathan wasn’t the one that constituted a fact-finding committee and received a report, no administration on earth would have upheld Shettima’s innocence because Jonathan’s men would have questioned the report of any other fact-finding committee.
He called on President Jonathan’s media team to find something more important to do with their time rather making baseless allegations in order to deceive Nigerians.