‘Jonathan can’t stop Boko Haram’, APC candidate tells John Kerry

The Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Muhammadu Buhari has reportedly said that President Goodluck Jonathan does not have the will to stop Boko Haram.

Buhari is said to have made the statement during a meeting with the US Secretary of State, John Kerry on Sunday, January 25.

A source told Punch that the former Head of State also revealed the strategies he would employ in ending insecurity in Nigeria if elected.

The strategies include the elimination of corruption, transparency in the management of defence budgets and an overhaul of the nation’s security sector.

“Kerry said the US was interested in someone that could curb the Boko Haram menace. He said the concern of President Barack Obama was that terrorism should not spread beyond the North-East as it seemed to be doing so gradually. Kerry asked what the strategy of the APC would be in fighting insecurity,” the source said.

Buhari also reportedly told Kerry that the Goodluck Jonathan administration had spent billions of dollars on defence and that most of the money had been diverted by those in power.

The APC candidate also identified that there was something wrong with the intelligence-gathering mechanism of the military.

‘Boko Haram members are not ghosts but that they were gaining ground because the security agencies had been compromised,' Buhari reportedly said.

He also “promised to ensure that every kobo spent on security would be accounted for as this would ensure that our soldiers get the appropriate equipment and have their morale boosted.”

Other members of the APC who were present at the meeting are said to have urged Kerry to speak against the postponement of the General Elections which was suggested by National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki.