Jonathan Is Benefiting From Boko Haram Crisis, Lai Mohammed Tells British Parliament

Lai Mohammed, the spokesman for the All Progressives Congress (APC) has told the British Parliament that the crisis in the North is to the benefit of President Goodluck Jonathan. He said that it is a mechanism to return Jonathan to power in 2015.

Presenting a paper titled “Challenges of Insecurity in Nigeria and Boko Haram Insurgency” to a sub-committee of the House of Commons in the United Kingdom Monday, Mr. Mohammed listed six ways he said the ruling party was exploiting the bloody campaign by Boko Haram for political gains.

According to Mohammed, the crisis has been used by Jonathan to promote his International Image

“Curiously, Boko Haram has now become a way of getting the international community to talk and meet with President Goodluck, and gain international media coverage,” he said.

He further stated that the Bring Back Our Girls campaign has been used as a medium to accused opposition parties and clamp down on media houses.

“The status quo favours the PDP and President GEJ. Why? Boko Haram affected areas and indeed the Northern region are APC strongholds, hence Boko Haram crises, the declaration of emergency rule and general atmosphere of insecurity in the North is likely to affect voting (low turnout due to displacement),” Mr. Mohammed said.

“There is already talk of cancelling elections in some areas in the Northeast, all plots designed to minimize President Jonathan-PDP electoral losses in the North and enhance the likelihood of a PDP victory.”

In his presentation, Mr. Mohammed detailed the genesis of the group and how it grew into an ultra-violent sect after a government crackdown, and how its operations have increasingly been exploited by the PDP and President Jonathan.
“The Boko Haram crises is readily used by the PDP to rationalize the Jonathan Government’s abdication of its constitutional responsibilities, including visits and assistance to areas affected, effective response to kidnappings and abductions,” he said.

The APC spokesman also described the state of emergency declared in Yobe, Adamawa and Borno States as nothing but political gimmicks by the ruling party. He said that Jonathan’s government is quick at declaring state of emergency in states controlled by the opposition and not those of the PDP where similar atrocities are been carried out.

“For example, despite incessant violence, killings, displacement and destruction in Taraba, Benue and Plateau (PDP controlled states), the PDP has been quick to discount the possibility of a full scale emergency rule, however it is quick to impose emergency rule in non-PDP states at the slightest episode of violence.

He said that negotiations similar to those done with the Niger Deltan Militants should be held with the Boko Haram Insurgents.

“Boko Haram cannot be an exception,” he said.

He then called for the International trial of the alleged sponsors of the Boko Haram sect.

“There is no doubt that Boko Haram has committed crimes against humanity in its scorched-earth campaign against unarmed citizens, and the most appropriate body to investigate and try the sect’s sponsors is the ICC,” he said