Former Borno State Governor and All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Ali Modu Sheriff, is staging a fresh political comeback in the North after President and the ruling party’s candidate, Bola Tinubu, picked him to lead his campaign from the North-Eastern region of the country ahead of the 2027 poll, despite years of controversies and criticism surrounding his political career, as well as his alleged links to insurgency that had crippled development across the northern states for many years.
Sheriff’s appointment as the APC North-East presidential campaign coordinator which placed him at the centre of the party’s efforts to secure support across the region has already triggered scrutiny, with critics questioning his past records and controversies particularly his role in the country’s insecurity which commenced over two decades ago.
While the critics have mounted the rostrum to express their displeasure over the President’s decision and demanded his removal from the campaign group, the former governor’s supporters especially Borno residents, have continued to portray him as an experienced political strategist with strong knowledge of the North-East and ability to win the zone for APC and Tinubu.
Sheriff, who returned to the APC before the 2019 poll after four years surgeon in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), meanwhile, has openly backed President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid and maintained that the Northern region should not produce the presidency in 2027.
The politician, who was once the national chairman of the PDP, had been accused of sowing the seeds of the insurgency that produced Boko Haram after winning the 2003 governorship election with the support of the group’s founder, Mohammed Yusuf, and his followers, after allegedly promising stricter enforcement of Sharia law within the state.
Sheriff, although was alleged to have been unable to fulfil the promises made to the Sect, which resulted in breakdown of the accord between both parties and resulted in the gunmen later engaging in attacking of communities and other illegitimate acts that spread from the state across the region.
His actions over two decades ago which has snowballed into full blown security challenge resulted in the United States President Donald Trump’s decision to tag the country in 2025, under the Tinubu-led administration, as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), following allegations of serious violations of religious freedom, and the Federal Government’s failure to adequately protect religious communities from Sheriff’s alleged former allies.
Efforts to correct the global perception of Nigeria’s security situation and engagements with the U.S. government to have the country removed from the CPC list made the Tinubu-led Federal Government deploy a delegation of security experts led by the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, to meet Trump’s representatives in Washington and reel out efforts made by the current administration to uphold fundamental human rights.
A source present at the meeting told The Guild on Friday that the government’s desire to secure the removal of the country from the list may not come to fruition following the inclusion of the former Borno State governor in the APC presidential campaign for 2027, a decision that was completely at variance with what the Ribadu delegation presented to the Trump team during the meeting.
Before the US inclusion of the country into the CPC, the former governor, who is allegedly seeking political relevance through the campaign committee inclusion had been frequently accused by his public affairs analysts and legal practitioners of being behind the insurgency in the North-East where Borno is located.
Although there is no established fact or court ruling implicating the former Borno governor in sponsoring Boko Haram, even as he denied the allegations.
Aside denying the allegations, he has refused to drag any of the accusers, who maintained their stance, before court to clear his name from being among founding financiers of the gunmen.
Among those many had expected should have been sued by the former governor was Rev Stephen Davis, the international negotiator engaged by the federal government to dialogue with the Boko Haram sect to secure the release of the abducted Chibok girls.
Also, Lagos based human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, who alleged that Sheriff was arrested in 2012 by the Cameroonian government for the crime committed by the deadly Boko Haram sect and that he was not sincere in his relationship with the sect.
Falana said: “As the Chief Security Officer in Borno State at the material time the ex-governor should open up on the circumstances of the extra judicial killing of Muhammed Yusuff and his father-in-law, Alhaji Kuba.
“More importantly, Mr. Sheriff should explain to Nigerians the basis of the appointment of Alhaji Buji Foi, a boko haram leader as the Commissioner of Religions Affairs in Borno State. He resigned from the Sheriff government and before joining the Boko Haram sect. He too was extra-judicially killed after his arrest by the soldiers.
“Also, the Goodluck Jonathan Administration had set up a panel to investigate the genesis of the insurgency in the North East and it Presidential Panel found inter alia: “Findings-The Report traced the origin of private militias in Borno State in particular, of which Boko Haram is an offshoot, to politicians who set them up in the run-up to the 2003 general elections.
“The militias were allegedly armed and used extensively as political thugs. After the elections and having achieved their primary purpose, the politicians left the militias to their fate since they could not continue funding and keeping them employed. With no visible means of sustenance, some of the militias gravitated towards religious extremism, the type offered by Mohammed Yusuf”.
Aside from that, APC members have expressed concerns that the move could compromise the presidential campaign, knowing that his name would attract criticism over allegations of supporting Boko Haram that have continued to attack many homes across North.
They alleged that since late President Muhammadu Buhari did not include him in his campaigns despite efforts made by the former governor to get the ex-president’s attention,
Tinubu should not have reversed his predecessor’s decision considering the wrongdoings that were linked to him.
The position of the many party members have been dispelled by an aide to the President, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, said that the list was prepared by the party leadership with inputs from the state governors who picked individuals that they believed will be answerable to them.
He added that the president queried the list but did not want to make any issue out of it since the governors supports were needed to ensure convince victory during the poll.
According to him, Tinubu never wanted to associate himself with anyone with questionable character but does not intend to have any face-off with the governors who he believed were crucial stakeholders that will aid his victory next year.
Aside from APC members that have expressed displeasure over Sheriff’s inclusion in the campaign committee, members of the opposition parties and groups, including the Nigeria Rescue & Renewal Movement (NRM) and loyal members and volunteers of APC, under the Grassroots Movement for Tinubu Continuity Come 2027, have questioned his inclusion on the list.
The political groups argued that his inclusion on the list could embroil President Tinubu in the controversy or fuel accusations that he is associating with an alleged sponsor of terrorism.
The NRRM National President, Aliyu Usman, while condemning APC’s decision, said the organisation was particularly concerned about the decision because of historical allegations that had previously linked Sheriff to Boko Haram.
According to him, the appointment has reopened questions about political accountability and the suitability of individuals entrusted with major responsibilities in the North-East, a region that has endured years of insurgency and insecurity.
NRRM said its objection should not be interpreted as an assertion that Sheriff has been convicted of any offence or that the historical allegations have been established as facts.
Rather, the group said it was demanding greater scrutiny and accountability when political parties select individuals to represent them in sensitive regions.
“Our concern is why a politician whose name has been associated with serious allegations concerning Boko Haram is being given the responsibility of coordinating the presidential campaign in the North-East, a region that has suffered tremendously from the insurgency,” Aliyu Adam Usman said.
Also, the Grassroots Movement for Tinubu Continuity Come 2027 has threatened to withdraw its support and voluntary campaign activities for President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid if Sheriff’s name is not removed from the campaign structure.
“Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff is an individual who has been publicly accused of creating the ungodly terrorist group known as Boko Haram, an insurgency that has devastated the North-East and Nigeria at large,” the group said.
“We believe that associating such a highly sensitive personality with the frontline of Mr. President’s campaign in the North-East will severely damage the image of our great party and dampen the morale of genuine grassroots mobilizers who have sacrificed for the victory of the President,” it said.
“Unless his name is dropped from among the frontiers of President Tinubu’s campaign structure, our votes and that of every member under our team shall be withdrawn from any further voluntary activities for the re-election of Mr. President in the 2027 general elections,” the group said.