Senator representing Borno South, Ali Ndume, has rejected claims linking him to negotiations with Boko Haram, stating categorically that he has never served as a go-between for the terror group or collected any government funds to negotiate on its behalf.
Ndume spoke in response to allegations by the President of the Borno South Youth Alliance, Samaila Kaigama, who claimed the lawmaker played a mediatory role during negotiations for the release of abducted residents of Ngoshe in Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State.
Kaigama had alleged that the senator received N5 billion from the Federal Government for negotiations with the insurgents, claiming that only N1.9 billion eventually reached Boko Haram, with the remaining balance left unaccounted for.
Speaking on Friday during an appearance on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme, Ndume maintained that he has consistently opposed any form of negotiation or ransom payment to Boko Haram.
“Let me state this here, that I, up to now, and even in the future, do not support negotiating with Boko Haram or paying any ransom,” he said.
“That has been my position ab initio, way, way back. Even during Buhari’s regime, when negotiation was going on on prisoner exchange or whatever they called it, and the ransom was paid to them, I was totally against it. I have been against.”
When asked about previous reports of ransom payments, the senator said he could not speak on the government’s behalf, adding that several people who had previously presented themselves as mediators were later unmasked as fraudsters.
“Those cases that you mentioned, I know, way back, have turned out to be fraudulent. In fact, two or three of them are in jail. One has been jailed. A female has been jailed in Borno. A male is under custody, and the other one is under investigation,” he said.
“Because government can be, you know, maybe compromising sometimes by agreeing to a payment of ransom or somebody that claims to be mediator. But what I’m saying is about myself. I’m not supposed to speak for the government.”
Ndume also revealed that the Federal Government has launched an investigation into the allegations levelled against him by Kaigama.
“The government is doing its own investigation now because he has accused the government of giving me money or appointing me as the mediator or giving me N5 billion and only N1.9 billion was received by Boko Haram,” he said.
“In the first place, I don’t know who appoints mediator. Who appointed Kaigama as a mediator between himself and Boko Haram?”
The lawmaker also recalled that he was arrested and prosecuted in 2011 over alleged ties to a man presented as a Boko Haram negotiator, stressing that the case eventually collapsed after six years due to a lack of evidence against him.
“Because I remember, in my case, in 2011, when a purported… because the person turns out not to be Boko Haram, actually. And I went to court for six years. Six years, I was… in fact, about one and a half months, I was under detention,” he stated.
“Because DSS claimed that they were doing investigation. And then they took me to court. For six years, there was no evidence. And then they threw out the case.”
Ndume added that the right course of action would be to invite Kaigama to present evidence to back up the allegations he has made.