Naja’atu Muhammad, a former director of civil society for the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, has urged Nigerians not to forget some of the atrocities committed by leaders running for office in the 2023 presidential election.
Muhammad, who has been outspoken since she left the ruling party, has warned that the character and capability of APC presidential candidate Bola Tinubu and his running mate should be scrutinized.
Speaking on Arise TV, which Legit.ng monitored on Thursday, January 26, the former APC leader said there are security concerns about Kashim Shettima, Tinubu’s running mate and former governor of Borno state.
Her words:
“Especially as it concerns security, you must have an enabling environment in order to do anything. So you can not take someone that is actually senile and another person that has been associated on several occasions with funding terrorism.
“Where is Kashim Shettima? Kashim Shettima we should not forget, Kabiru Sokoto was one of the most wanted terrorists and he was found and arrested in his house.”
Kabiru Umar Abubakar Dikko popularly known as Kabiru Sokoto was convicted by the court for being the mastermind of the Christmas Day bombing of the St Theresa Roman Catholic Church on 25 December 2011 in Madalla, Niger State.
A total of 37 worshippers were killed in that single incident in Niegr state.
Also stating that terrorism is a huge enterprise controlled by leaders and governors across states in the northern region, Muhammad said those in authority now connive with foreign mercenaries to establish acts of terrorism in their environment.
She said:
“Let us understand and let us not forget that this terrorism, carnage and banditry is not just happening by mistake; it is a multi-billion dollar industry because it takes a lot of money on the defence budget. It has a lot to do with the sale of drug, mining and illegal bunkering.
“And look at the areas that are affected by it for instance, the northeast, where you have the blue diamond that is a strategic mineral, you have oil at the Chad Basin that is been exploited right now illegally. You have Zamfara, if you go to Zamfara, Zamfara has more gold than Ghana. Zamfara’s Gold is being traded in Dubai and other parts of the country.
“There is a market called Nigerian gold in Dubai, go and check. So who is doing this mining? Most times there are the governor, the people in power in connivance with foreign machinery.”