Former presidential spokesperson Garba Shehu has dismissed former President Goodluck Jonathan’s claim that Boko Haram once nominated ex-President Muhammadu Buhari as its preferred negotiator in peace talks with the Federal Government.
Shehu, who served as Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the late President Buhari, reacted in a statement posted on X on Friday.
He wrote in part, “Boko Haram did not nominate Buhari as their mediator. To be president in 2027, Goodluck Jonathan should look for another story to tell Nigerians.”
Jonathan had earlier made the claim on Friday at the public presentation of Scars: Nigeria’s Journey and the Boko Haram Conundrum, a book authored by former Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor (retd.), in Abuja.
He said his administration had set up several committees to dialogue with the sect, adding that in one of those efforts, “Boko Haram nominated Buhari to lead their team to negotiate with the government.”
Shehu described Jonathan’s statement as “a terrible claim” and “a false start” if intended to support a future political ambition.
He said, “Muhammed Yusuf or Abubakar Shekau, the deceased leaders of Boko Haram, never nominated Muhammadu Buhari for any such role. In fact, Shekau routinely denounced and threatened Buhari, and their ideologies were in direct opposition.”
Shehu recalled that in 2014, Buhari narrowly escaped a bomb attack in Kaduna, where some of his aides were injured. “Buhari’s campaign focused on fighting Boko Haram and restoring security to Nigeria whenever he became president,” he added.
The former aide said reports linking Buhari to Boko Haram in 2012 were politically motivated. “Contrary to the news making the rounds in those years that Boko Haram had nominated General Muhammadu Buhari as mediator, the retired military general denied knowledge of any such nomination,” he said.