Senator Modu Sheriff Faces Unexpected Backlash

July 13, () — Almost a week after he launched a political diatribe against the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Peter Obi, former Borno State governor, who later represented Borno Central District at the National Assembly in 1999 -2003, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff has continued to face severe backlash on online and offline media.

Appearing in an interview programme with Channels TV recently, Senator Sheriff, among other things, labelled Obi as the most unqualified presidential candidate for the upcoming 2027 general election, saying that the former Anambra governor “is pursuing the division of Nigeria.”

Senator Sheriff, who shared a comment on Obi’s call on President Bola Tinubu to resign “over governance failures,” accused the NDC presidential candidate of “promoting the division of the country by not condemning the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.

“He is the most unqualified person to ask Tinubu to resign. Many leaders like Obasanjo (former President Olusegun Obasanjo), General Yakubu Gowon (civil war head of state), T. Y. Danjuma (former Chief of Army Staff and later Minister of Defense), and many leaders from the North and South in this country sacrificed their lives to keep Nigeria one from civil war. Peter Obi, up to this moment, is pursuing the division of Nigeria; he never condemned Biafra; he never condemned IPOB,” Sheriff said, daring Obi to deny his statement.

Sooner had he left the studio on that day than the barrage of criticisms followed him. Nigerians from various backgrounds, ages, and social standings have been hitting the former Borno State Governor. From the North, Sheriff claimed would never vote for Obi in the 2027 polls came a group, Kwankwasiyya, an ex- presidential adviser and political activist, Najaatu Mohammed, and the vice -presidential candidate of NDC, Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso. Other critics are the Obidient Movement, Senator Victor Umeh and many young Nigerians who are still busy on their X platform, faulting Sheriff’s viewpoint.

“A man who allegedly created the vicious Boko Haram group, who should be paying for his sins, had the nerve to troll a presidential candidate. That is the height of hypocrisy,” Najaatu Mohammed said, adding: “Those who know the history of the insurgency know where it all started. Nigerians should not allow anyone to rewrite history. Unfortunately, someone facing such grave allegations is now questioning another person’s patriotism. You cannot lecture others on national unity when your name has repeatedly come up in discussions about one of Nigeria’s darkest chapters.”

In their reaction, the Kwankwasiyya Movement through its spokesperson, Habibu Sale Mohammed Mailemo, described Sheriff’s remarks as disappointing. The movement described as outrageous, Sheriff’s claim that the North would never vote for Obi.

“No individual has the authority to determine how the people of Northern Nigeria should vote. The North is not the personal political estate of anyone,” the statement said.

The group said the former Borno governor was being patronizing in his reference to the voting character of the electorate in the North, suggesting that millions of citizens were incapable of making independent political decisions without the approval of a few self-appointed political gatekeepers.

“It should be stated unequivocally that no individual has the mandate to decide for the entire North. Northern Nigeria is home to diverse political opinions, aspirations and convictions. Its electorate has repeatedly demonstrated that it cannot be reduced to stereotypes or dictated to by the political elite,” the movement said, adding that “Our National Leader, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, correctly observed that the outcome of the 2023 presidential election clearly disproves the claim that any candidate is incapable of attracting support across regional boundaries. The votes cast across Northern Nigeria reflected the constitutional freedom of citizens to support candidates of their choice.”

The movement argued that attempts to rewrite this political reality neither serve democracy nor promote national unity. They instead encourage unnecessary divisions at a time when Nigerians expect their leaders to focus on the pressing challenges confronting the nation.

“Today, the average Nigerian is worried about the rising cost of living, widespread insecurity, youth unemployment, declining purchasing power, the state of education and access to quality healthcare. These are the issues deserving of serious political engagement, not narratives that seek to define the political choices of millions of voters,” it stated, adding that, “The Kwankwasiyya Movement believes that leadership is earned through ideas, credibility, performance and the confidence of the electorate, not through media declarations or claims of regional ownership,” it said.

For the Obidient Movement, which alleged that Sheriff who had been “widely identified with the early rise and sponsorship of the Boko Haram insurgency that has devastated the North,” it is ironic that the same man “now wants to lecture anyone on patriotism and national loyalty.”

“Perhaps what truly frightens him and others like him is the knowledge that a Peter Obi administration will dismantle the lucrative insecurity industry from which merchants of chaos and political profiteers have benefited for years,” the OM stated.

Dr. Kwankwaso, who said he watched the Sheriff interview live with disappointment, waxed philosophical about the latter’s current viewpoint.

“After a prolonged absence from public discourse, one would have expected that time away might have sharpened Senator Sheriff’s judgment. Regrettably, that does not appear to be the case,” the NDC VP candidate wrote on his X platform.

“In the interview, the former governor claimed that Peter Obi cannot command sizeable support in Northern Nigeria. Curiously, he has appointed himself spokesperson for the Northern masses. For the record, in his first outing on the presidential ballot, Mr. Obi secured approximately 2.8 million votes in the region — a remarkable achievement that cannot be dismissed lightly,” Kwankwaso wrote, adding that, “given the current national hardships, the widespread consensus on the failure of the APC administration, and the addition of a strong Northern figure to the ticket who previously garnered 1.45 million votes in the region, the OK ticket remains a formidable force in Northern Politics.

“Even more surprising was Senator Sheriff’s assertion that the people of Kano would not vote for Mr. Obi. Let me state clearly: the good people of Kano are neither bigoted nor xenophobic. They have consistently demonstrated strong trust in the Kwankwasiyya movement and will support any credible ticket presented under its banner. I respectfully advise Senator Sheriff that, in future national television appearances, he would do better to speak to the serious insecurity and humanitarian challenges facing his home state, rather than making divisive and poorly considered remarks.”

Senator Victor Umeh wondered why Sheriff should ask Obi to apologise for the Nigerian Civil War, as Obi was a mere six-year-old child during the war, arguing that such a view is counter-productive to the nation-building process. “In Rwanda, over 800,000 persons were killed in a genocidal war against the Hutus. In less than ten years, both the Tutsis and Hutus have reunited under President Paul Kagame. It is as if the war there never happened. Here we still have persons who have refused to learn from our past and make the country united.”

recalls that Senator Sheriff has consistently denied allegations linking him to the Boko Haram group, declaring that he neither founded nor sponsored the terrorist organisation.

The controversy is almost 20 years old, dating back to 2009, when Boko Haram, under the leadership of its founder, Mohammed Yusuf, transformed from a radical religious movement into a violent extremist group operating in northeastern Nigeria.

In July 2009, Yusuf was captured alive by security forces during a military crackdown on the terrorist group in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. He was later pronounced dead by the police after he allegedly attempted to escape from detention during a gun battle between officers and his followers.