Garba Shehu Refutes Jonathan’s Claim on Boko Haram Nominating Buhari as Mediator

Allies of late former President Muhammadu Buhari have dismissed ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s recent claim that Boko Haram once nominated Buhari to negotiate with the government on their behalf.

Mallam Garba Shehu, former presidential spokesman, in a statement on Friday urged Jonathan to “look for another story to tell Nigerians,” stressing that Buhari was a target, not an ally, of the terrorist group.

Shehu recalled that in 2014, Buhari narrowly escaped a Boko Haram bomb attack in Kaduna, where some of his aides were injured. He added that Boko Haram’s leaders, including Abubakar Shekau, consistently denounced Buhari, making it implausible that he was ever nominated as a mediator.

The statement cited Buhari’s response at the time, conveyed through then-CPC Secretary Buba Galadima, that he had never heard of the purported nomination and dismissed it as speculation.

Party officials also linked the rumor to political mischief, with the late Rotimi Fashekun, CPC’s publicity secretary, accusing Jonathan’s PDP of exploiting the claim to distract Nigerians from corruption scandals.

Fashekun described Buhari as a patriot with no connection to insurgency, while alleging that elements within the PDP itself fueled insecurity through what he termed “Political Boko Haram.”

The Buhari camp concluded that Jonathan’s assertion was misleading and politically motivated. “If this is a campaign statement ahead of 2027,” Shehu said, “then Dr. Jonathan is making a false start.”