Shehu Sani, a former lawmaker who represented Kaduna Central Senatorial District in the 8th National Assembly has asked that Obadiah Mailafia, a former deputy governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should not be used as a scapegoat following his revelation on the sponsorship of Boko Haram.
Sani was reacting to call by Northern Governors Forum (NGF) on security agencies to investigate the allegation by Mailafia who was the presidential candidate of African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the 2019 general elections.
The former lawmaker who tweeted from his verified Twitter account on Thursday, stated that rather than being distracted by the revelation made by the erudite economist, the Northern governors should focus their attention on tackling the insecurity problems confronting the region.
“Mailafia should not be used as an excuse,scapegoat or distraction; Northern Governors should focus their attention in finding solutions to the bloodshed and violence consuming and demonizing the region,” Sani tweeted.
The former Deputy Governor of CBN had in a radio interview said and claimed that one of the serving governors of Northern Nigeria is the sponsor of Boko Haram insurgency.
He was thereafter invited for questioning and clarification on Wednesday by the Department of State Security Service (SSS).
But shortly after meeting with the DSS in Jos, Plateau State, Mailafia reiterated to newsmen that though a little part of what he said on radio was taken out of context, he will not retract or disown them.
“We had a lively and intense interview over a radio interview I granted. That interview which was meant for an FM radio station, some just picked the clip — a small section of the 55 minutes broadcast — and put it on social media and it went very very far all over the country, raising a lot of concerns,” he said.
“What I want to say is that, yes, all of those words were made by me. You know if the whole of the 55 minutes was played out, the context of what I said in a small clip that went viral would have become clearer.
“This is not the time to disown what I said. Yes, I was privy to some very sensitive information which all statesmen are entitled to have by virtue of our public roles.
“I know that I should have taken more care to corroborate some of the information I received, but perhaps some of it was uncorroborated. I was in no position to follow them to the camp to corroborate what was going on,” he said.
Describing his statement as weighty security concerns, the Northern Governors Forum through its Chairman, Simon Lalong, Governor of Plateau State, called upon the nation’s security authorities to probe the allegation.
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