Threatens to sue Australian negotiator
Embattled former Borno State gov­ernor, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, has again dissociated himself from Boko Haram which has been terrorizing the North.
Last Thursday, Australian negotiator, Dr. Stephen Davis, hired by the Federal Govern­ment to negotiate with the Islamist sect for the release of the Chibok girls, had named the former governor and ex- Chief of Army Staff, General Azubuike Ihejirika, as alleged sponsors of Boko Haram.
Also, the main opposi­tion party, All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday called for the prosecution of Senator Sheriff over his alleged role in funding of insurgency in the North-East.
National Chairman of APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, further called on the govern­ment to hand over the former governor and General Ihejirika to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for investigation and prosecution.
But speaking with newsmen yesterday in Abuja, Sheriff denied funding the group as incumbent governor and after leaving office.
He said the activities of Boko Haram predated his administration and denied any relationship with the leader of the sect, the late Moham­med Yusuf, who was killed in controversial circumstances in 2009.
“As you are aware, my name is being mentioned for obvi­ous reasons as a culprit over the unfortunate happenings in Borno State and some parts of the country, especially from the 2009 Boko Haram episode to date.
“I must say that I have been utterly embarrassed by some of the negative comments, insinuations and unfounded accusations, which were clearly misdirected, narrow and mis­chievous. It may not be neces­sary to bother you with the long history of the metamorphosis of Boko Haram as a sect, as several reports have published their genesis, spanning over 25 years.
“The incident preceding 2009 was in Kanama, Yobe State in 2002, long before I became the governor of Borno State. It is on record that my administra­tion in 2009 took exceptional bold steps in handling the Boko Haram insurgency. It may interest you to know it was the government of my predecesor, the late Alhaji Mala Kachallah that introduced Sharia in the state in 2000 through the Borno State Sharia Administration of Justice Law 2000.
“ As a matter of fact, the late Kachallah signed the bill into law at an elaborate ceremony at the Ramat Square in Maiduguri and appointed the Borno State Sharia Law Implementation Committee in February, 2001 under the chairmanship of Prof. Abubakar Mustapha, the former vice-chancellor of the Univer­sity of Maiduguri.
“Interestingly, the late Yusuf, leader of the Boko Haram sect, was a member of the committee among other Islamic scholars. If indeed, there was an agree­ment between the sect and my predecessor on the issue of Sharia implementation, I am not aware of it, as I was neither in government then, nor was I a party to it. And since the law precedes my administration, I may not be in a position to speak on how it was conceived, promulgated and implemented.”
Sheriff also denied com­plicity in the circumstances surrounding the execution of the late Yusuf. Let me state categorically at this point that I do not share the ideology of the Boko Haram sect, which is against western education, western culture and modern science or any other sect with similar ideology.
“From my background, it could be easily seen that we are completely opposed to one another in terms of our view- points and convictions. By my nature and upbringing, I have neither associated myself with nor shared the beliefs of religious fundamentalism such as the Boko Haram or any other sect for that matter.
“I have never associated myself with the sect and I don’t know their leader, Mohammed Yusuf. I only met him once when he was captured and I went in company of military officers. The late President Umaru Yar’Adua gave instruc­tion in 2009 to the military to dislodge the sect. As the governor, I only provided the logistics and after fierce fight­ing, Yusuf was captured and handed over to the police.
“General Sani Maina captured him. He was never brought to my office. I am pre­pared to face any panel in the world. I stand to be corrected; Yusuf was never brought to my office. General Sani is alive, you can go and ask him,” Sher­iff said.
The former governor who vowed to institute legal action against Dr. Davis, dismissed the claim of the APC that he was a mole in their party for President Goodluck Jonathan.
He said:”Let me place it on record that since the incep­tion of the current democratic dispensation from 1999, I have been in the opposition party. I have at every election caused the defeat of the PDP in my state. It will sound infantile for anybody to believe the accu­sation as being a mole of the same party that I have been causing its defeat in every elec­tion. And if I have been a prob­lem to the APC, even as one of its founding fathers, what stops the party from exposing me or sanctioning me all the while, or are they accessories?,” he queried.

It’s mischievous to link me with Boko Haram –Sheriff