The Presidency has urged Nigerians to disregard the claims by former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki that Boko Haram insurgents were largely defeated by the immediate past administration of Goodluck Jonathan, ahead of the 2015 general elections.
In a statement, the Senior Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu said Dasuki’s claim was not true.
“The superlative claims by the former National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki that the Goodluck Jonathan administration cleared the Northeast of boko haram terrorists to make elections possible in 2015 are untrue and should be dismissed as an attempt to deceive Nigerians with blatant lies. The claim as contained in a new book by a journalist is just another unfortunate attempt by inglorious Nigerians to rewrite the history of our country in such a way as to cover the sins of the past,” he said.
The Presidential spokesperson said a number of local government areas in the North-east were completely under the control of boko haram, to the extent that elections in those areas had to be moved to safe areas but the Buhari administration liberated those areas.
“The residents of areas such as Gwoza, Banki, Kukawa, Monguno, Bulumba, Baga, Gamboru Ngala, Dikwa, Mafa, etc., were able to vote, not in their hometowns but in refugee camps in other parts of Borno State, under special arrangements made by INEC,” he said.
He added that: “Since the Buhari administration came into power, however, many of those residents have returned to their homes and Boko Haram eradicated from their areas. In many of these areas, institutions such as schools, police stations, markets and courts have been re-established or are in the process of being re-established.”
“Nigerians will not forget when unserviceable weapons, expired ammunition and fake armoured vehicles caused untold grief to our valiant armed forces on the battlefield, with arms exploding willy-nilly and guns failing to fire. It is for trespasses like these that the Buhari administration is determined to get to the bottom of the 2.1 billion Dollars arms procurement scandal and ensure that no single one of the culprits goes scot free,” Shehu stated.
He concluded that the truth, as a matter of fact is that the monster of terrorism got bigger and more daring due to the miss-governance of the last administration and no amount of lies and fiction can change that.
