Former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and current Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir el-Rufai on Saturday, June 2, 2012 in an interview with BBC accused former President Goodluck Jonathan of being responsible for the incessant Boko Haram attacks ravaging the country.
El-Rufai of the then-opposition All Progressives Congress (APC ), said Jonathan was using the bomb attacks as a diversionary measure.
He said: “This will assist the government to change the attention of the masses on the Boko Haram’s activities rather than anxiously waiting to protest or sue the government for corruption.
“We have to start accusing the government because anytime we are in this problem, like when the Farouk committee in the House of Representatives came out with its report on the fuel subsidy scam, at that time they started coming out with bombs all over.
“Therefore….we keep on asking the government : ‘ why is it whenever they have problem, that is when those they call Boko Haram will start bombing. Or are they working together?
“They are yet to give us an answer; there are many other things which up till now, there is no explanation. Every Nigerian knows that two years ago, there was rest of mind and he could sleep well at home. But today, there is no rest of mind, things have deteriorated.”
This is 2015 and Muhammadu Buhari of the APC is the President and El-Rufai is now the Governor of Kaduna State and Boko Haram attacks which were almost extinguished as Jonathan’s administration was coming to an end have become an almost bi-daily occurrence.
On Tuesday, July 7, 2015, a bomb was detonated in Zaria, Kaduna State, killing over 20 people.
With El-Rufai’s 2012 comments, it is safe to put the bulk of the blame for the recent spate of Boko Haram attacks at the foot of El-Rufai’s APC and President Buhari.
