Former President Goodluck Jonathan says Boko Haram insurgents once nominated the late President Muhammadu Buhari to negotiate with the Nigerian government during his administration.
Jonathan disclosed this on Friday at the launch of Scars, a memoir by former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor (retd.), in Abuja.
He explained that after his government set up committees to explore dialogue with the group, the insurgents surprisingly chose Buhari as their preferred negotiator.
“One of the committees we set up then, Boko Haram nominated Buhari to lead their team to negotiate with the government,” Jonathan said.
The former president said he had expected Buhari’s eventual rise to power to smooth peace talks and lead to disarmament, but the insurgency persisted.
Jonathan noted that the failure to end the Boko Haram crisis even under Buhari highlighted the deeper complexity of Nigeria’s security challenges.
