Former President Goodluck Jonathan has revealed that Boko Haram insurgents once nominated his successor, former President Muhammadu Buhari, to represent them in peace talks with the Federal Government.
Jonathan made the disclosure on Friday in Abuja during the public presentation of Scars, a book written by former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor (retd.).
The former president said his administration had established several committees to explore dialogue with the terrorist group, and in one instance, the sect named Buhari as their preferred negotiator.
According to him, that development made him believe Buhari would have had an advantage in resolving the insurgency when he eventually became president.
“One of the committees we set up then, the Boko Haram nominated Buhari to lead their team to negotiate with the government,” Jonathan said.
“So I was feeling that, oh, if they nominated Buhari to represent them and have a discussion with the government committee, then when Buhari took over, it could have been an easy way to negotiate with them and they would have handed over their guns. But it was still there till today,” he added.
Despite the early hopes, the Boko Haram insurgency has continued to pose serious security challenges in Nigeria more than a decade after it began.
