Ebun Francis || The war of words between former President Goodluck Jonathan and Alhaji Kashim Shettima, Bornu state governor over the abduction of the Chibok School girls in 2014 continued yesterday.
In a statement by Inuwa Kubo, the Borno State Commissioner of Education, Shettima challenged the ex-President to make public the report a Presidential Fact-Finding Committee he constituted in the wake of the girls’ abduction, ‘if he has nothing to hide.’
Kubo also called on Nigerians to ask Jonathan why he concealed a report of his own fact-finding committee’ that investigated the circumstances surrounding the kidnap of the girls.
He said, “Rather than direct spurious allegations against Governor Kashim Shettima on controversies surrounding the abduction of Chibok schoolgirls, media aides should ask their principal, ex-President Jonathan, why he deliberately concealed the report of a Presidential Fact-Finding Committee he constituted and inaugurated on May 6, 2014, and which submitted the report of findings to him on June 20, 2014.”
“For the purpose of records, Eze and his colleagues are pointing the wrong direction, they should ask their principal, ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, why he deliberately refused to make public, the report of a committee he constituted, inaugurated and received their findings on facts surrounding the Chibok abduction and who is to blame for it.
He continued, “To refresh their minds, on May 6, 2014, President Jonathan had inaugurated multi-agency/stakeholder fact-finding committee under the chairmanship of Brig. General Ibrahim Sabo (rtd), a one-time Director of Military Intelligence and secretary of the Committee was from the Niger Delta.
“President Jonathan single handedly selected all members of that committee which included representatives of the UN, ECOWAS, retired and serving security officers from the Army, DSS and the Police; representatives of the Chibok community, local and international civil rights organizations, representatives of the National Council of Women Societies, the Nigeria Union of Journalists and some of his highly trusted associates.
“For nearly two months, the committee undertook thorough investigation that included forensic assessment of all documents on the entire issues, held meetings with parents of the schoolgirls, visited Chibok, met with the then Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Naval Staff, the Director General of the DSS and the Inspector General of Police, all of whom were appointees of President Jonathan.
“The committee also met with officials of Borno Government including myself and the school principal. The committee held meetings with the heads of different security agencies in Borno State, including the security formations in charge of Chibok and after compiling their findings, the committee submitted its report directly to President Jonathan on June 20, 2014, in Aso Rock.
“The question anyone should ask is why President Jonathan deliberately refused to make that report public. What was he hiding from Nigerians? Here is another question, if the findings had indicted Governor Shettima or the Borno State Government in anyway, does anyone really thinks Jonathan would have concealed that report given his open hatred for Shettima and the fact that the Governor was in the opposition party?
“Also, the issue of saying the Principal of GSS Chibok was appointed a Commissioner is an irresponsible mischief because Governor Kashim Shettima is neither foolish nor is he a daft,” the Commissioner stated.
Kubo said if there was one Nigerian that assisted Jonathan in the fight against Boko Haram it was Governor Shettima.
The public confrontation between the former President and the Bornu state governor started with remarks by Shetima at a book launch in Abuja that the ex-President had surrounded himself with persons who could not help him in the art of governance unlike former President Olusegun Obasanjo and late Musa Yara’dua.
But in a swift response, former President Jonathan, through Ikechukwu Eze, his media aide, accused Shettima of complicity in the Kidnap of Chibok girls on April 14, 2014.