How Jonathan’s Private Secretary Frustrated FG, Boko Haram Negotiation- Datti Ahmad

Datti Ahmad, the man who had in March this year moved for a ceased fire negotiation between the Federal government and the Boko Haram had declared why the negotiation was called off. According to Ahmed, the insincerity on the part of government’s representative was one of the reasons why the negotiation was short-lived. He stated that his effort was frustrated by President Jonathan’s principal private secretary, Hassan Tukur. He said it became necessary for him to back out of the negotiation after the details of the process were published in the media. He affirmed that by divulging the information to the press, the government had exhibited insincerity in the entire negotiation. Ahmad, who spoke with the VOA Hausa radio yesterday, said he single-handedly initiated the dialogue by writing to both the government and the Boko Haram group on the need for peace. He said both groups accepted the idea, and Jonathan delegated Tukur to negotiate on behalf of the government. But instead of keeping the negotiation secret, Tukur opened up to the press, and divulging the entire discussions to the media, and as a result, Ahmad was asked by the sect members to withdraw from the negotiation table since they could no longer trust the government. He said: “We started an independent effort and wrote to them (Boko Haram) and they replied to us that they agreed, and we should go ahead. We then contacted Jonathan and sat with him alone. Myself, our secretary general Malam Nafiu (Baba Ahmed) and Jonathan, and the man who facilitated our meeting with (the president). He (Jonathan) linked us up with Hassan Tukur…he is his trusted man. “Hassan Tukur was the one who sabotaged the process by divulging all that we discussed to the press. The Boko Haram people said we should withdraw because they said there was lack of sincerity on the part of the government. “They said they in a previous similar peace attempt, sent one of their members but that member was arrested. That was the end of the discussion,” he said. The president and Tukur were yet to respond to the issue as at the time of this report, even with the several effort made to reach Tukur and the presidency on the matter.