Former presidential aide, Garba Shehu, has rejected ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s claim that the late President Muhammadu Buhari was once nominated by Boko Haram to serve as their mediator in peace talks with the Federal Government.
In a strongly worded statement on Friday, Shehu described Jonathan’s assertion as “false and politically motivated,” suggesting the former president was attempting to rewrite history as part of his 2027 presidential ambition.
“To be president in 2027, Goodluck Jonathan should look for another story to tell Nigerians,” Shehu said.
“Muhammadu Buhari was never nominated by Boko Haram. On the contrary, Shekau routinely denounced and threatened him, and their ideologies were diametrically opposed.”
Shehu recalled the 2014 Kaduna bomb attack where Buhari narrowly escaped death in an assault blamed on Boko Haram.
“His campaigns were built around restoring security and defeating terrorism, not representing their cause,” he noted.
Quoting the late Buba Galadima, then CPC National Secretary, Shehu reminded Nigerians that Buhari had at the time dismissed the reports as speculation.
Galadima had clarified that: “He (Buhari) said he had not even heard about it, and since nobody contacted him, he would not speak to the press.”
The rumour, Shehu explained, stemmed from a 2012 press conference staged by a Boko Haram faction led by Abu Mohammed Ibn Abdulaziz, who claimed Buhari and other northern elders were acceptable mediators.
The statement was swiftly disowned by Abubakar Shekau, who declared Abdulaziz had “no mandate.”
At the time, CPC’s late publicity secretary, Rotimi Fashekun, also accused Jonathan’s PDP government of exploiting the alleged nomination for political gain, calling it “a gambit to distract Nigerians from the massive looting under their watch.”
Shehu warned Jonathan against using “false narratives” as political capital: “Mr Jonathan, you are making a false start. Buhari never spoke for Boko Haram, he fought them.”
