By Muhammed Ali.
Former presidential aide and spokesman for late President Muhammadu Buhari have dismissed former President Goodluck Jonathan’s recent claim that Boko Haram once nominated Buhari to negotiate on their behalf with the Federal Government, describing it as “a false narrative driven by politics.”
Shehu in a statement Friday night, said Jonathan’s remarks distort history and amount to “cheap politicking” ahead of 2027.
He recalled that in 2014, far from being in alliance with the terrorists, Buhari narrowly escaped an assassination attempt by Boko Haram in Kaduna, where members of his personal staff were injured.
“Shekau never nominated Buhari for anything. On the contrary, Buhari was one of their prime targets. Their ideologies clashed completely. To now suggest otherwise is not only inaccurate but insulting to history,” Shehu said.
The statement also referenced denials made during Buhari’s days as the leader of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). Then party officials, including Engr. Buba Galadima and Rotimi Fashekun, had publicly refuted reports that Boko Haram wanted Buhari as a mediator, stressing that no such communication was ever received.
According to Shehu, the narrative originated from a “rogue faction” of the sect led by one Abu Mohammed Ibn Abdulaziz, who falsely paraded himself as a commander and listed Buhari and other Northern leaders as preferred negotiators. The group’s claim was swiftly disowned by Boko Haram’s actual leadership at the time.
Fashekun, the CPC’s publicity secretary (now late), had gone further to accuse Jonathan’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of weaponizing the claim for political advantage, even linking the then-ruling party to what he called “political Boko Haram.”
Reinforcing that position, Shehu accused Jonathan of attempting to “rewrite history to score cheap political points.”
“If this is the story he wants to sell for 2027, Nigerians deserve better. President Buhari was never a friend or mediator of Boko Haram—he was their sworn enemy, and they tried to kill him for it,” the statement concluded.
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