Sheriff: But for Boko Haram, Buhari would have polled 2m in Borno

President Muhammadu Buhari would have polled two million votes in Borno state but for the activities of Boko Haram militants, Ali Modu Sheriff has said.

The two-term governor of the state was reacting to allegations that the figure returned for the president was inflated given the terrorist activities in the state.

Sheriff, who left the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2014 before returning to the party in 2018, was speaking to reporters at the State House on Friday after observing his Jumaat prayers and having a closed-door meeting with the president.

Buhari got 836,496 votes to defeat Atiku Abubakar (PDP) who scored 71,788 votes in Borno, forcing PDP supporters to question the figures because of the insecurity in the state.

“I don’t know why the PDP are grumbling. Registered voters are more than two million and we only gave the president 830,000,” Sheriff, who was national chairman of the PDP in 2017, said.

“When I was a governor, the president got over a million votes in Borno. Why didn’t they complain then? They are just crying foul for nothing. This election was the most transparent election that ever took place in the history of Nigeria and I stand to be corrected.

“They should just embrace peace. The president has said that he is going to carry everyone along, they should accept their defeat and replan for 2023 if we are all alive. But this election has been won and won transparently.”