Abubakar said in a statement on Tuesday that the time had come for Shekau or his impersonators to give up the fight as there was no longer any hiding place for them.
He advised Shekau and his commanders to emulate Boko Haram members said to be surrendering to the troops in large numbers by giving themselves up.
He warned those claiming to be leaders of the deadly sect that the era of chief propaganda was over as Nigerians, and indeed the world, would soon know the current reality about the insurgency.
The Acting Defence Spokesman stressed that the military had decimated the capacity of the terrorists in the North-East and had liberated communities which were under the control of the insurgents.
Abubakar said the successes recorded by the ground troops and the fighter pilots of the Nigerian Air Force against the insurgents could be verified by any interested person.
He said, "The Armed Forces wish to reiterate that it is a well-known fact that the terrorists have been seriously decimated and the tremendous achievements recorded in recent time by combined forces of the Nigerian Army and the Air Force are commendable.
"The Armed Forces did not lie about the successes recorded so far in its counter-insurgency operations. For avoidance of doubt, the liberated communities in the North-East, which were hitherto under Boko Haram terrorists, are free for interested person or body to explore.
"The military does restate that in recent time, a number of Boko Haram members have been surrendering and denouncing radicalisation. Our candid advice to Shekau or his ghost, cohorts or impersonators is to toll the line of their fellow comrades and surrender now as there is no more hiding place for him or his criminal gang to operate freely.
Abubakar said the military would not allow Shekau or any other person to interfere with the ongoing military operation designed to flush out the insurgents from the North-East.
He described as irrelevant and fruitless, the efforts behind a recent audio clip said to have been released by Shekau.
He urged Nigerians to be calm, stressing that the message contained in the audio clip was nothing more than "the usual antics of a drowning person struggling to hold onto anything to remain afloat."
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