President Jonathan’s Aide In Forgery Scandal

An aide to President Goodluck Jonathan, ‘Pastor’ Reno Omokri, has been accused of forging documents and circulating it to the media in order to implicate the recently suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, in the recent Boko Haram onslaught in Yobe State, in which over 45 students died.

On Wednesday, Omokri, who is in charge of the Jonathan’s New Media team, allegedly sent materials to online media platforms with the pseudo-name, Wendell Simlin and email address, wendellsimlin@yahoo.com.

It was discovered that the document was sent out to bloggers at about 11:54am via the above email address using the Federal Government’s official internet service provider, Galaxy Backbone, from Abuja.

This alleged forgery mess was uncovered by the duo of Feyi Fawehinmi and Gbenga Sesan, who traced the email’s metadata and digital signature to Omokri.

Below is the write-up sent out by the so-called Wendell Simlin:

Increased Tempo of Boko Haram/Terrorist Activity in the Wake of the Sanusi Saga
In the wake of the saga involving the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, there has been an increase in the tempo of terrorist activities carried out by the Islamic Terrorist sect, Boko Haram.

Taken together with some historical facts, there is a strong case that this increase in tempo and other activities are not coincidental.

The following Timelines may throw some light on the likely linkages;

February 20th 2014: President Goodluck Jonathan suspends Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

February 20th 2014: Boko Haram attacks Bama town killing at least 47, wounding many and destroying houses.

February 23rd 2014: Boko Haram attacks Konduga Local Government, destroying houses, and allegedly killing scores of rural dwellers.

February 24th 2014: Borno State Governor’s convoy allegedly attacked by gunmen.

February 25th 2014: Boko Haram attacks Federal Government College, Buni Yada, in Yobe State, killing at least 29 students as they slept.

History

It is a historical fact that Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi was implicated in the Gideon Akaluka beheading affair of 1995 and was subsequently arrested in Kano and detained by the Abacha administration in Sokoto, Sokoto State.

Sanusi was released after the intervention of (amongst others) Alhaji Umaru Abdul Mutallab.

Alhaji Mutallab used his influence to place Sanusi comfortably in the banking sector beginning with the United Bank for Africa from where he moved to First Bank where he (Mutallab) was chairman.

Malam Sanusi rose within the ranks, aided by his relationship with Mutallab, until he was nominated by President Yar’adua and confirmed by the senate as the Governor of the CBN in 2009.

It is pertinent to note two incidences that cannot be coincidences. The son of Alhaji Umaru Abdul Mutallab (Farouk Abdul Mutallab) eventually entered into infamy when he was arrested and tried for attempting to detonate an under wear bomb on a Northwest Airlines flight into America. Farouk Abdul Mutallab became radicalized after he had gone to study Sharia and Islamic studies in Yemen in 2009.

This was exactly the same trajectory earlier taken by Sanusi Lamido Sanusi who schooled at the International University of Africa in Khartoum, Sudan in the mid 1990s while Osama Bin Laden was also a resident of the city.

Alhaji Umaru Abdul Mutallab appears to be a recurring decimal in the life of Sanusi and the unifying factor appears to be their passion for an Islamic world order. For example, one of Sanusi’s first act as Central Bank Governor was to begin the push for Islamic banking which culminated in the establishment of the first Islamic bank in Nigeria, Jaiz Bank. Alhaji Umaru Abdul Mutallab is the Managing Director of this bank.

Given the quantum of funds that were appropriated by the Sanusi led CBN on non banking related activities and donations, and the strong desire that he and Alhaji Umaru Abdul Mutallab have for proselytizing Islam as well as their circumstantial links to terror (Sanusi via Gideon Akaluka and Mutallab via his son) it is not such a leap for them to facilitate the activities of terrorists.