THE INSIDER: How Sheriff sneaked into Jonathan’s party, sparking off outrage and denial

Senator Ali Modu Sheriff is not about to be off the pages of newspapers. He looks like someone who is beginning to love the limelight, no matter how dim or blinding.

For ages he has been accused of sowing the seeds of the Iroko that Boko Haram has become today ─ with his engagement of, as it turned out, a group of violent religious zealots for political purposes while he was governor of Borno State.

The young zealots have blossomed and have now launched the most murderous campaign against the Nigerian state in history.

Sheriff, recently accused of funding Boko Haram by Australian negotiator, Dr. Stephen Davis ─ a charge which he strenuously denied ─ was in the news again on Wednesday when he was pictured pumping hands at the Chadian airport with President Goodluck Jonathan, who was in Ndjamena, Chad, for an important regional meeting.

There was yet another great photo opportunity after the airport pleasantries, as Sheriff was again pictured sitting in at a meeting between the president and the Chadian leader, Idriss Deby. An interpreter sat behind Jonathan.

There was outrage back home. The leading opposition party, All Progressives Congress (APC), released a statement accusing the president of hobnobbing with alleged sponsors of terror by travelling to Chad in company with Sheriff, who was himself an opposition figure until he moved to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The general impression was that Sheriff actually travelled to Chad as a member of Jonathan’s delegation ─ in what would certainly have been a sensational misstep by the president.

As it turned out, Sheriff was not part of the party. He denied being on the delegation and presidential spokesman, Dr. Rueben Abati, has also issued a statement to clarify what happened.

But in spite of the denials, questions are still being raised if the president should be found smiling with Sheriff at all when weighty allegations against him are still being probed by the security agencies.

Abati, apparently anticipating such a question, said the president would not interfere in the probe and ─ good old jurisprudence wisdom ─ every accused should be assumed innocent until proved guilty.

Unknown to many Nigerians, Sheriff is one of the most powerful people in Chad. Born in Ngala, very close to the Chad Basin, Sheriff is at home both in Nigeria and Chad. But that is not the story.

Sheriff, sources in the know told TheCable, is one of the biggest investors in the oil sector in the neighbouring country, where he regularly spends his time trying to run away from Boko Haram militants. They have been out to get him since the Maiduguri uprising in 2009 when the sect’s members were mass-murdered by the Nigerian security forces ─ allegedly with the full involvement of Sheriff, who was then the governor of Borno State.

They killed his brother, Goni, and his cousin, Modu Fannami Gubio, who was all set to become his successor in 2011, and Sheriff himself can no longer visit Borno without full security. The sect, it was alleged, felt used and abused by the former senator. Sheriff completely disappeared from public glare after leaving office in May 2011, and rumours had it that he was on self-exile somewhere in Dubai, waiting for the tension to calm down.

“What many people did not know is that he spends more time in Chad than in Nigeria,” a security source told TheCable. “He has, we believe, a business relationship with President Deby. He has large investments in the oil sector. We believe that aside the big multinational oil companies, Sheriff is the biggest investor in Chad. His relationship with the Deby dates back to decades.”

Having defected to the PDP ─ he has been in the opposition since 1999 ─ Sheriff has become quite close to Jonathan, and was recently at the Presidential Villa to see the president. He had always been treated with suspicion by APC leaders, who thought that he was a “mole” in the party. After eventually leaving the party complaining about how he was treated at the party’s convention in June, he has always used every opportunity to flaunt his relationship with Jonathan.

It is a well used strategy in Nigerian politics. When you move to the ruling party, don’t waste any opportunity to show the world that you and the president have breakfast, lunch and dinner together. It will strike the fear of God into your opponents and rivals.

“Sheriff has fallen out with his successor, (Kashim) Shettima,” a former Borno commissioner told TheCable. “Elections are around the corner. He wants Shettima out next year. By moving to the PDP, he now has Abuja backing. He regularly wants to be seen in Jonathan’s company to remind his opponents that he not only has money, he has the powers-that-be within his reach.”

In fairness to Sheriff, though, it would have been a slight if Deby did not bring him to the airport to welcome the president. As the most powerful Nigerian in Chad, Sheriff would ordinarily be on the front row to meet his president.

With no objections from Jonathan, Deby would also not leave Sheriff behind while paying a courtesy visit to the Nigerian president at his hotel. And with no objections yet, a sumptuous dinner would cap the day. And with no objections, Sheriff would feel free to smile with the president and shake his hands ─ for the camera.

The message was apparently intended for APC and his critics.