The Presidency has declared that it has no knowledge of talks between the Boko Haram Islamist sect and a group of Northern state governors. It said as far as President Goodluck Jonathan, members of the sect remained faceless since no one had approached him on their behalf.
This statement was made by the Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak on Thursday in response to a statement credited to the sect who responded to Jonathan’s statement during his recent state visit to Yobe and Borno states that members of the sect were “ghosts” and so he could not grant them amnesty as recommended by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III.
One Sheikh Muhammad Abdul’aziz, a leader of one of the Boko Haram factions, was reported to have said its members could not have been ghosts or a faceless association because they had been in dialogue and consultation with the Borno State Government and a delegation of the Northern State Governors’ Forum.
But Gulak told this correspondent that the President was unaware of such talks.
He challenged any governor talking with the sect to approach Jonathan and brief him on the ongoing talks, saying that as far as the President was concerned, until someone approaches him to represent the sect, the report of ongoing talks remain mere speculations and he couldn’t act on such.
“The President is not aware of any governor either from the North, South, East or West negotiating with Boko Haram.
“Let any governor that is negotiating with the sect come to the President and tell him that he is representing them and that he wants amnesty for them.
“As it is now, no governor has come forward to say that, so it is just a speculation and the President cannot work on mere speculation,” he said.