Jonathan’s allegation against Shettima irresponsible —Borno Education Commissioner

The Commissioner for Education, Borno State, Musa Inuwa Kubo, has described as irresponsible mischief the claim by former President Goodluck Jonathan that Governor Kashim Shettima appointed the Principal of Girls Secondary School (GSS) Chibok as a commissioner.

He also challenged the former president to tell Nigerians the reason he refused to make public the report of his own fact-finding committee on the abduction of Chibok girls.

Kubo was responding to a statement by Jonathan’s aide, Ikechukwu Eze, challenging Shettima to tell Nigerians what he knew concerning the April 14, 2014 abduction of over 200 schoolgirls by Boko Haram after attacks on GSS Chibok in Borno State.

Eze had said, “He (Shettima) should be able to tell us if it was Jonathan’s poor choices that led the governor to expose students of Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok to avoidable danger, in total disregard of a Federal Government directive to the governors in the three states most affected by Boko Haram to relocate their students writing the West African School Certificate Examinations to safe zones.

“It is instructive that while other governors in the zone heeded the security advice, Shettima remained the only one that flagrantly flouted it. Should we also fail to point out that his decision to reward the principal of Chibok Secondary School, who was uncharacteristically absent on the night terrorists stormed the school, with the post of a commissioner, did throw up more questions than answers?”

But Kubo said in a statement he made available to newsmen, “For the purpose of records, Eze and his colleagues are pointing the wrong direction, they should ask their principal, President Goodluck Jonathan, why he deliberately refused to make public, the report of a committee he constituted, inaugurated and received their findings on facts surrounding the Chibok abduction and who is to blame for it.

“To refresh their minds, on Tuesday, the 6th of May, 2014, President Jonathan had inaugurated multi-agency/stakeholder fact-finding committee under the chairmanship of Brig. General Ibrahim Sabo (rtd), a one-time Director of Military Intelligence and secretary of the Committee was from the Niger Delta.

​“President Jonathan single handedly selected all members of that committee which included representatives of the UN, ECOWAS, ‎retired and security officers from the Army, DSS and Police; representatives of the Chibok community, local and international civil rights organisations, representatives of the National Council of Women Societies, the Nigeria Union of Journalists and some of his highly trusted associates.

READ ALSO: JONATHAN TO GOV SHETTIMA: If I ran bad govt why is UN begging Buhari to maintain standard I set

​”​For nearly two months, the committee undertook thorough investigation that included forensic assessment of all documents on the entire issues, held meetings with parents of the schoolgirls, visited Chibok, met with the then Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Naval Staff, the Director General of the DSS and the Inspector General of Police, all of whom were appointees of President Jonathan.

​“The committee also met with officials of Borno Government including myself and the school principal, the committee held meetings with heads of different security agencies in Borno State including security formations in charge of Chibok and after compiling their findings, the committee submitted it’s report directly to President Jonathan on Friday, the 20th of June, 2014 in Aso Rock.

​“The question anyone should ask is why President Jonathan deliberately refused to make that report public. What was he hiding from Nigerians? Here is another question, if the findings had indicted Governor Shettima or the Borno State Government in anyway, does anyone really Jonathan would have concealed that report given his open hatred for Shettima and the fact that the Governor was in the opposition party?

​“Also, the issue of saying the Principal of GSS Chibok was appointed a Commissioner is an irresponsible mischief because Governor Kashim Shettima is neither foolish nor is he a daft.”

 

 

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