Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan says his recent comments on the role of the late President Muhammadu Buhari in the Boko Haram crisis were misrepresented.
The former president made the clarification in a statement issued by his media aide, Ikechukwu Eze.
Recall that Jonathan, in his speech on Friday at the book launch of former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Lucky Irabor, in Abuja, said that Boko Haram had, during his tenure, nominated Buhari as a mediator.
The comments had triggered backlash, especially from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Clearing the air, Jonathan, in a statement by his spokesman, said the former president’s comments were “grossly misrepresented. At no time did Dr. Jonathan suggest, imply, or insinuate that President Buhari had any connection with Boko Haram or that he supported the group in any form.”
According to the statement, Goodluck Jonathan’s remarks on the insurgency “were meant to illustrate the deviousness and manipulative strategies employed by Boko Haram in their early years.”
It urged the general public to disregard any misinterpretation of Jonathan’s comments, stressing that the former president “remains committed to peace, unity, and the strengthening of democratic values in Nigeria.”
