I never said Buhari was connected to Boko Haram – Jonathan

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has dismissed reports suggesting helium accused the precocious President Muhammadu Buhari of having ties with Boko Haram, insisting his comments were wrongly portrayed.

In a connection released connected Saturday by his media aide, Ikechukwu Eze, Jonathan clarified that helium ne'er alleged, hinted oregon implied that Buhari supported oregon was connected to the violent group.

The clarification follows reactions to Jonathan’s remarks connected Friday astatine the motorboat of Scars, a publication authored by erstwhile Chief of Defence Staff, Lucky Irabor, wherever helium recalled that Boko Haram erstwhile named Buhari among individuals they wanted to correspond them successful bid talks with the government.

Jonathan, who led Nigeria from 2010 to 2015, explained that the insurgents’ notation of Buhari came aft his medication had acceptable up committees to initiate dialog with the group.

However, Garba Shehu, a erstwhile statesmanlike spokesman, dismissed the relationship arsenic “false and politically motivated.”

Eze explained that Jonathan’s remarks were aimed astatine highlighting Boko Haram’s deceptive tactics alternatively than implicating Buhari.

“The attraction of the Office of Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has been drawn to misleading reports circulating successful sections of the media suggesting that Dr Jonathan alleged that Boko Haram nominated the precocious President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, to correspond them successful dialog with the Federal Government, and truthful this made him someway complicit successful the Boko Haram crisis,” the connection reads.

“We privation to marque it abundantly wide that the erstwhile President’s comments were grossly misrepresented. At nary clip did Dr Jonathan suggest, imply, oregon insinuate that President Buhari had immoderate transportation with Boko Haram oregon that helium supported the radical successful immoderate form.

“Dr Jonathan’s remarks, made successful the people of a broader treatment connected Nigeria’s information challenges, were meant to exemplify the deviousness and manipulative strategies employed by Boko Haram successful their aboriginal years.

“His notation was to a well-documented occurrence erstwhile assorted individuals and factions falsely claimed to correspond the violent radical and purported to sanction salient Nigerians arsenic imaginable mediators, without those individuals’ cognition oregon consent.

“The constituent Dr Jonathan sought to marque was that Boko Haram, successful its diagnostic deceit, often invoked the names of respected nationalist figures to sow confusion, exploit governmental divisions, and undermine nationalist assurance successful government.

“His comments were truthful an illustration of the group’s duplicity, not an accusation against the precocious erstwhile president oregon immoderate individual, for that matter.

“The erstwhile president’s presumption was that if so Buhari was their prime negotiator, wherefore didn’t Boko Haram expeditiously bring their evil violent docket to an extremity erstwhile the retired General became president?

“For the avoidance of doubt, Dr Jonathan recognises that President Muhammadu Buhari, similar each patriotic Nigerian, stood firmly against coercion and was himself a people of Boko Haram violence. Both men, during their respective tenures, shared a communal committedness to restoring bid and stableness to Nigeria.”

Eze urged Nigerians to disregard the distorted reports, stressing that Jonathan remains committed to peace, unity, and the consolidation of ideology successful the country.

The station I ne'er said Buhari was connected to Boko Haram – Jonathan appeared archetypal connected Vanguard News.