The North Believed That Ex President, Goodluck Jonathan Was Behind Boko Haram – Umar Sani Says

Umar Sani, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has outlined the factors that contributed to former President Goodluck Jonathan’s unpopularity in Northern Nigeria during his tenure.

Sani said that most people in the North at the period believed that Jonathan was behind the Boko Haram insurgency and that he was using General Ihejirika, former Chief of Army Staff, to create more mayhem in the region.

The PDP chieftain stated this on Friday while fielding questions on Arise Television’s Morning Show programme.

Sani said the people only realized and began to see that it was not the fault of Jonathan when former President Muhammadu Buhari could not defeat Boko Haram.

He said: “Goodluck Jonathan was initially very unpopular in the North because of the Boko Haram insurgency. Most northerners believed that he was behind the Boko Haram insurgency and that he was using General Ihejirika to create more mayhem in the North.

“But you know, when, on the ascension of Buhari and the lack of performance of Buhari’s government, the people now began to see that it was even not the fault of Jonathan, that it was an issue that was even beyond him. Even Buhari kept on saying Boko Haram was technically defeated, almost technically, almost about to be defeated. But the thing continued.

“In fact, the incident that broke the camel’s back was when Bello Turji burnt some people alive in a bus, and the northerners could not take it, and they said he was incapacitated.”