“If I was a Boko Haram sponsor there would not have been any government in Borno for any one to inherit,” Sheriff argued. He then added, “The allegation by the Australian was hatched in Maiduguri to spoil my name by those that are not comfortable with my political goodwill.”
Ex-Governor Ali Modu Sheriff of Borno State said he defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in order to help end the numerous problems facing his state, especially the insurgency fueled by Boko Haram, a terror group sworn to eradicate western education and values.
Mr. Sheriff, who was recently named by an Australian hostage negotiator, Stephen Davis, as one of the main sponsors and financiers of Boko Haram, spoke in the Borno State capital of Maiduguri amid tight security. The former governor, who later became a senator, was in the city to pay a condolence visit to his close political associate, Kashim Iman.
Speaking at his palatial residence in Maiduguri, Mr. Sheriff accused his detractors in Maiduguri of hatching the allegation by Mr. Davis. The former governor had invited a few reporters to his home in Maiduguri for a press briefing. He said it was a great unkindness to link him with the scourge of Boko Haram in Nigeria.
“If I was a Boko Haram sponsor there would not have been any government in Borno for any one to inherit,” he argued. He then added, “The allegation by the Australian was hatched in Maiduguri to spoil my name by those that are not comfortable with my political goodwill.” According to the ex-governor, “We should be careful how we treat issues because some of these things could later come to backfire.”
Mr. Sheriff claimed that he had suffered a lot at the hands of the insurgents. “They killed my brother just an hour after he was with me. They killed the governorship candidate of my party, a candidate that I supported. There is nobody in Borno that has not suffered from the insurgents.”
He told the reporters, “There is no sacrifice too much for me to make for the people of Borno for they have done so much for me.” Explaining his defection to the PDP, the former governor said that some changes were better done from within the government at the center, adding that he intended to help achieve some needed changes for his people.
“My being in the PDP is a personal sacrifice for my people. I am in PDP so as to make the necessary intervention for my people. If it takes me to be sleeping 24 hours in the Presidency for my people, I will do just that,” he said.
Mr. Sheriff disclosed that he was saddened by accusations that he did not care for Borno State. “I have always cared for Borno people because I take it that I am the most patronized person in Borno having been voted three times into the senate and twice as governor,” he added.