Rat Story Was a Smokescreen to Divert Attention from Buhari’s Health – Garba Shehu Reveals
Garba Shehu, former Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, has revealed that the widely circulated 2017 story about rats invading the Presidential Villa was fabricated to divert public attention from concerns about Buhari’s health.
Shehu made the startling disclosure in his newly released book, According to the President: Lessons from a Presidential Spokesperson’s Experience, which was launched on Tuesday in Abuja. In the book, he admitted that the rat invasion narrative was a calculated “spin” meant to deflect mounting speculation about the president’s prolonged absence and capacity to govern.
The controversial incident occurred after President Buhari returned to Nigeria on August 19, 2017, following nearly three months of medical treatment in the United Kingdom. Upon his return, the Presidency announced that Buhari would be working from home rather than his official office, further fueling public doubt and anxiety.
At the time, tensions were already high, as Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), had sensationally claimed that Buhari had died and been replaced by a Sudanese clone named “Jibrin.”
In Chapter 10 of his book, titled Rats, Spin and All That, Shehu narrated how the idea for the story emerged.
“In the first few hours after the president’s return, I overheard a conversation in the Chief of Staff’s office, where he, some principal officers, and the permanent secretary were discussing over lunch. A damaged cable was noticed in the president’s office, and someone speculated that rats might have caused it since the office had been unused for some time,” Shehu wrote.
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“As public pressure mounted over why the president was working from home despite claims of his recovery, I told reporters that the office needed renovation because rats had damaged some of the cables during the president’s absence.”
According to Shehu, the story quickly gained traction and became a global talking point, even making the top five news items on BBC World News. Media interest intensified, with journalists—particularly from BBC Hausa—demanding further clarification about the rodents.
“To get them off my back, I referred them to the notorious rats that invaded Nigeria in the 1980s during the rice armada period, which brought rice from Southeast Asia. Those rats were known for their extreme destructiveness,” he wrote.
While some critics accused the presidency of attempting to conceal the truth about Buhari’s health, Shehu said others found the narrative amusing—and a few even believed it.
He also recounted how the story drew internal scrutiny from key government figures. “At a later meeting, the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, and Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo questioned why I pushed that story,” Shehu revealed.
“I explained that it was a deliberate move. I needed to shift the national conversation away from the president’s health and ability to continue in office. From my perspective, the spin achieved its purpose.”
However, both Mohammed and Osinbajo disagreed, arguing that the approach missed the mark.
The revelation adds a new layer to the behind-the-scenes media strategies employed during Buhari’s presidency and underscores the lengths to which presidential aides may go to manage public perception.
By PRNigeria
