Hand over Sheriff, Ihejirika to ICC for prosecution, APC tells Jonathan

By Umar Muhammad Puma

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to hand over former governor Ali Modu Sheriff and immediate past Chief of Army staff, General Azubuike Ihejirika as well as other sponsors of Boko Haram to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for investigation and prosecution.

The party at a press conference yesterday in Abuja, by its national chairman, Chief John Oyegun told journalists that now it is clear that PDP was behind the Boko Haram insurgents for the purpose of winning 2015 presidential election.

He revealed that President Goodluck Jonathan cannot longer deny knowledge of his party men, sponsoring the dreaded Boko Haram, saying the alleged sponsors are the president’s personal friends.

The opposition party believed that the truth is now finally exposed by the Jonathan’s led government appointed negotiator, Mr. Stephen Davis, adding that it is now clear that the APC does not have hand in the Boko Haram insurgence in Nigeria.

“We have said it all along, Boko Haram was politicized purely for one reason, and one reason only: To be used as a trump card for President Jonathan to win another term.

“The man who exposed these Boko Haram sponsors is a Jonathan-appointed Negotiator. He has no axe to grind, neither does he have any motive to shield the APC or portray the PDP/Presidency in bad light. In fact, if he had any sympathy at all, it is for the man who hired him, President Jonathan.”

The party chairman said immediately the former governor of Borno state, Ali Modu Sheriff, which he said was planted by the PDP government to destabilize APC went back to the party the “Maiduguri Airport that had been closed to even the pilgrims from the state on grounds of security, was re-opened specially for him.”

The chairman continued: “We know for sure that Ali Modu Sheriff was planted in the APC to help decimate our party. We confronted him openly during the merger negotiation but he denied vigorously.

“His surrogate for the post of the Chairman of the APC, Chief Tom Ikimi together with whom they planned to hijack the party for the Presidency was firmly rejected. Realizing they have failed, they fled our party and returned to where they came from, and were duly embraced by their controllers.”