How We Lied To Nigerians – Former Presidential Aide
Garba Shehu: We Lied About Rats Invading Buhari’s Office to Cover Up His Health Issues
Former presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, has revealed that the famous 2017 story of rats invading President Muhammadu Buhari’s office was a deliberate fabrication aimed at diverting public attention from concerns over the president’s health.
In his newly released memoir, Shehu opened up about the strategy behind the viral narrative. In Chapter Ten titled “Rats, Spin and All That,” he explained that the rodent invasion story was crafted as a communication tactic during a period when Nigerians were questioning President Buhari’s fitness to lead.
Buhari had returned to Nigeria on August 19, 2017, after spending months on medical treatment in the United Kingdom. Upon his return, the Presidency announced that he would be working from home rather than his official office, sparking fresh fears over his health. The situation escalated as conspiracy theories claiming that Buhari had died and been replaced by a Sudanese body double named “Jibrin” began trending online.
Shehu narrated how he overheard a conversation in the Chief of Staff’s office about a damaged cable. Someone joked that rats may have caused the damage since the president’s office had been unused for months. Seeing an opportunity to divert public focus, Shehu ran with the idea.
“When the surge in calls for an explanation of why the president would be working from home came, I said to reporters that the office, which had been in disuse, needed renovation because rats may have eaten and damaged some cables,” he wrote.
Shehu admitted that the statement was not backed by verified facts but was designed to shift national conversation away from Buhari’s health crisis. The explanation quickly went viral, dominating headlines locally and internationally, including coverage by the BBC.
“To get them off my back, I referred them to the strange rats that invaded the country in the 1980s during the rice armada. Many critics disagreed, saying we were covering up the president’s ill health. Some people had a good laugh… and an insignificant few believed me.”
He noted that the communication tactic worked as intended, as public discourse moved from the president’s health to the mysterious “State House rats.”
However, not everyone within the Presidency was impressed. Shehu revealed that then Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo questioned the truthfulness of his claim.
“Both of them disagreed, saying that this was well off the mark,” he wrote.
In another chapter of the memoir, “The Muhammadu Buhari Persona,” Shehu defended the former president against criticisms of being detached and unaware of national issues. He described Buhari as someone who took deep interest in governance, often starting his day reading several newspapers and staying updated through radio and television news.
According to Shehu, Buhari remained well-informed throughout his tenure, despite public perceptions to the contrary.
