Ali Modu Sheriff speaks on his alleged ties with Boko Haram

"Few days after I became the chairman of the
PDP, Ali Sheriff is now Boko Haram; so if you
are in APC you are not a Boko Haram."
Ali Modu Sheriff, the national chairman of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has denied
having any links with the dreaded terrorists'
sect, Boko Haram.
Meanwhile, the leadership crisis has rocked
the party following Sheriff's appointment, as
many members and political leaders
threatened to dump the PDP.
On February 17, 15 former ministers who
served in Goodluck Jonathan's administration
met in Asokoro, where they vowed to leave
the party if Sheriff is not removed from his
new position.
According to the ex-ministers, the former
governor of Borno state cannot lead the party
that is trying to regain power.
"For several times, he has been identified with
the issue of Boko Haram, though he has yet to
be indicted. But perception matters a lot. We
can't be defending that toga now. We don't
have such time," one of the ex-ministers said.


However, in a recent interview granted to This
Day, Sheriff has reminded Nigerians that he
was a victim of the Boko Haram attacks which
led to the death of his brother and other
relations.
"Boko Haram wanted to kill me at a time
because they believed that I was the one that
reported them to President Umaru Yar'Adua to
destroy their enclave. It was after I left
government that they moved to their different
camps and bushes. Why should they kill my
brother? Why should they kill my family if I
am a sponsor of Boko Haram? Is there
anywhere in the world that you sponsor people
to kill you?" he wondered.
Sheriff noted that he was labelled Boko Haram
sponsor shortly after leaving the All
Progressives Congress (APC). Therefore, he
called on Nigerians to ask those who blackmail
him why they raised the matter only when he
left the ruling party.
"Let me give you a typical example. Just a
week ago, all the social media planted my
picture showing me with the card of APC
joining the party. At that time, nobody wrote
that I was Boko Haram. They said Sheriff was
going back to APC; they were showing a card
when we registered with APC before I left the
party. We went to our villages to do it; that
village they are showing on the social media
was a village that was taken over by Boko
Haram for the past three years. So, how could
I have gone there to register?

"Few days after I became the chairman of the
PDP, Ali Sheriff is now Boko Haram; so if you
are in APC you are not a Boko Haram.
Throughout my period in APC, nobody said I
was Boko Haram. Immediately I left the APC, I
was termed Boko Haram," he said.
The PDP newly appointed chairman also noted
that he would have been arrested and already
prosecuted by President Muhammadu Buhari
if the allegation levelled against him was true.
"Nobody in my family or relation is Boko
Haram or close to any Boko Haram member.
These people that wanted to kill me, up till
today, if they have the chance, they will kill
me because they think I reported them to
Yar'Adua who leveled their places of worship
and along the line, their leader was killed.
"And that was my crime and why they wanted
to kill me. But people that are afraid of me
changed the story and they keep on doing it.
Every day, they write different things but you
and I know that nobody is above the laws of
Nigeria. I believe that President Buhari, even if
it is his son or blood brother that is a Boko
Haram, he will arrest and prosecute him. So
the allegation is the figment of the imagination
of the writers," he said.

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Speaking about the PDP and his plans for the
party, Sheriff said that after handing over he
would try to pacify aggrieved members,
asking them to come back.
"It is a home they built and it is a home that
they should not leave. I will visit the zones, I
will visit the states and I will visit individuals
whose sacrifices made the party what it was
and insha Allah, we will succeed in rebuilding
the party.
"PDP will be rebuilt, will be reunited, PDP will
come together. I formed a party from the
scratch that won elections all over Nigeria; the
UNCP which was short-lived was built by me
and we won elections all over Nigeria," he
said.
Meanwhile, the PDP members of the Board of
Trustees (BoT) have issued March deadline to
Goodluck Jonathan to reject Sheriff as the
party's acting national chairman.
The BoT members and some aggrieved
senators threatened the ex-president that if
he refuses to reject Sheriff, he should be
prepared to face mass exodus from the party.