Former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigerian (CBN), Dr. Obadiah Mailafiya, has admitted that he lied when he claimed that a Northern governor, whose name he did not mention in his earlier media interview, was leader of Boko Haram insurgents.
In the said interview with an Abuja-based FM Radio, Mailafiya had alleged that one of the Northern governors was a Commander of Boko Haram in Nigeria and that there would be civil in 2022.
But speaking to news men today shortly after he was grilled by officers in the Department of State Security (DSS) in Jos, Plateau State capital, Mailafiya said that the information he gathered from his source were not carefully checked and verified by him.
“I should have taken more care to corroborate some of the information that I received but perhaps some of it was uncorroborated.”
He said that his words were not clearly gotten, wondering how he would be judged without listening to the whole 55 minute interview.
“Yes all of those words were made by me, but if the whole 55 minutes interview was played out, the context of what I said in the simple clip that went viral would have become clearer.
“This is not the time to disown what I said. Yes I was privy to some very sensitive information which all statesmen are entitled to have by virtue of our public roles.”
Mailafiya commended the officials of the DSS for treating him “professionally, fairly and graciously.”Northern Governor’s Forum Chairman and Plateau State governor, Simon Lalong, had, yesterday, August 22, described Mailafiya claims as either smear campaigns or attempts to discourage the governors who were putting in their best in the fight against the terrorists.
