GOV. KASHIM SEHTTIMA & SEN. ALI MODU SHERIFF (L) WHEN THE GOING WAS TILL GOOD
The battle line appears to have been drawn between Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State and his political benefactor, immediate past Governor Ali Modu Sheriff, as the two men have engaged in a war of words over who is more corrupt.
Sheriff, who recently parted ways with his political godson by defecting to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, had at a press briefing of the party in Maiduguri, the state capital on Monday, alleged that his successor was corrupt.
In his reaction, through his media aide, Alhaji Isa Gusau, on Tuesday, Shettima described Sheriff’s allegation as an “irony, laughable and absurd”, and claimed that the ex-governor was practically broke before assuming office in 2003, but left “office as perhaps the richest man in Borno State and one of the richest former governors in the country”.
Gov. Shettima continued: “I think of all Nigerians that held public offices in the country, one man that should seal his lips whenever issues of corrupt practices are being discussed is former Governor Ali Modu Sheriff.
“Everybody knew he was broke before he became a governor in 2003. Today, he is practically the richest former Governor in Nigeria, who was reported by Thisday Newspaper in 2012, to have acquired a jet worth N11bn for his luxury and he was said to be the first African to have procured such a jet as an individual
“This is a man that has never flown in a commercial flight in the last 10 or more years within Nigeria because he has fleets of jets he owns. This is someone that cannot survive outside the corridor of power from the days of military.
“It is really shocking that of all people, Sheriff can open his mouth to accuse any Nigerian of corruption, let alone a good and prudent man like Governor Kashim Shettima, who has won the hearts of so many with his numerous works for his people despite security challenges in Borno”, the Governor’s aide asserted.