Sheriff
Former governor of Borno State, Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff, has been accused by the All Progressives Congress, APC, as being responsible for the violence witnessed in the State capital on Monday when its presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, took his campaign to Maidugari. The Borno State chapter of the party held that the impasse was instigated by Sherrif to warrant the cancellation of elections in the state.
It had been reported that supporters of the APC went on rampage same day vandalizing and torching several campaign offices and posters of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
While soldiers busied themselves with efforts to control the large crowd that turned up for the rally, some irate youth went about bringing down PDP campaign billboards that were mounted close to the venue of the rally.
In a matter of hours, thick smoke belched some 500 meters way from the venue of the rally as hundreds of the APC supporters, chanting anti-PDP and anti-President Goodluck Jonathan slogans, stormed the PDP office there, forced themselves into the premises and set the place ablaze.
But, the APC in a statement issued on Tuesday, distanced its members from the act and alleged that ex-governor, Sheriff doled out huge sum of money to some thugs and asked them to disguise as APC supporters and attack his PDP’s properties.
In the statement signed by Borno State chairman of the APC, Ali Dalori, the party noted that it has conducted its own investigation into the attack and had found out that Sheriff held series of meetings with thugs loyal to him, days ahead of the APC rally.
The statement also said the former governor’s spokesperson, Inuwa Bwala, swiftly rushed to the media accusing Governor Shettima of being behind the attacks, while it was being carried out.
“The manner in which Bwala rushed to press has further confirmed the findings of our investigations that the whole thing was orchestrated by the PDP affiliated to former Governor Ali Modu Sheriff with the sole intent of causing political violence in so as to create basis for elections not to be conducted in Borno State by March 28 and April 11, 2015,” APC said.
APC further submitted that Sheriff was poised to cause violence and stop elections in Borno so as to pave the way for him to regain the Senatorial candidature he lost earlier.
It also recalled that on the eve of President Goodluck Jonathan’s trip to Borno for his campaign rally on January 24, Governor Shettima issued a statement appealing to citizens of the state to respect the president and not to do anything that would undermine his campaign rally.
The party also said the governor held series of meetings with select youth groups and APC youth leaders in all the wards in Maiduguri, the state capital, calling on the party’s supporters not to breach the peace.
“Indeed, Governor Shettima’s efforts paid off as the PDP held an entirely peaceful rally on January 24, 2015,” it said, stressing that the Governor could therefore not organize violence while his own party was holding its rally.
In providing further justifications for its allegation, the APC said Sheriff arrived Maiduguri last Friday at about 7 pm while it was making preparations to receive Mr. Buhari, adding that “For nearly three days, Sheriff kept on holding meetings with different youth supporters of the PDP who brandished all manner of weapons every day they were his guests.
“Sheriff kept on sharing money to these thugs before he left the State on Sunday, February 15, 2015 at about 4:10pm.
“Immediately Sheriff left Maiduguri, we suspected he was up to some mischief and from our investigations, his discussion with most of his political thugs was for them to disguise as supporters of APC and seriously disrupt Buhari’s rally to the extent that confusion would spring up such that Buhari would be forced not to appear at the rally,” the party said.
APC maintained that beyond the task given to them to disrupt its rally, some of the thugs were equally angered by the inability of their leaders to pay them in full.
“As things turned out, Sheriff’s aggrieved thugs went out of control and descended on the PDP campaign office soon after they started fighting themselves,” it said.
Averring that it stands to lose if any political crisis arises in Borno to threatens the forthcoming elections, the party said, “As things stand in Borno today, the APC is the number one beneficiary of the current political climate and wouldn’t want any breach of the peace, how much more inciting it. Sheriff on the other hand has been doing everything to cause confusion.”
Meanwhile, effort made to get across to the former governor in order to obtain his own side of the story was unsuccessful.
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