Former President Muhammadu Buhari was at the center of a controversial communication strategy in 2017, when a story about rats invading his office was deliberately fabricated to distract the public from growing concerns about his health.
This revelation was made by Garba Shehu, Buhari’s former spokesperson, in his newly published memoir.
In Chapter Ten of the memoir, titled “Rats, Spin and All That,” Shehu recounts how the narrative was created during a period of intense public scrutiny. Buhari had just 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 instead of his official office at the Presidential Villa, sparking speculation and skepticism about his well-being.
Conspiracy theories soon followed, including wild claims that the returning president was actually a body double referred to as “Jibrin from Sudan.”
Faced with mounting pressure from the media and a curious public, Shehu explained that he sought a diversionary tactic.
He recalled overhearing a discussion in the office of the Chief of Staff about some damaged cables, during which someone casually joked that rats might have caused the damage due to the office being unused for several months. Shehu took this offhand comment and spun it into an official statement.
“When the surge in calls for 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.
He admitted in the memoir that the claim was not based on any verified investigation, but rather was a calculated attempt to shift public focus. The statement quickly went viral, attracting widespread media coverage both locally and internationally, including 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,” Shehu noted humorously. “Some critics said we were covering up the president’s ill health. Some people had a good laugh… and an insignificant few believed me.”
Shehu openly acknowledged that his intent was to deflect attention away from Buhari’s medical condition and keep the focus on a less sensitive topic.
“I wanted the discussion to shift, to move to any other issue besides the president’s health and his ability to continue in office,” he stated.
However, not all members of the administration supported this approach. Shehu recalled that both the then Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo questioned the authenticity and appropriateness of the rat story. “Both of them disagreed, saying that this was well off the mark,” he wrote.
In a different chapter of the book — Chapter Six, titled “The Muhammadu Buhari Persona” — Shehu also addressed long-standing criticisms that Buhari was detached from national affairs.
He rejected this portrayal, describing the former president as someone who remained well-informed and actively engaged in governance throughout his tenure. According to Shehu, Buhari regularly began his mornings by reading several newspapers and kept abreast of developments via radio and television.
Through these revelations, Garba Shehu provides rare insight into the behind-the-scenes decisions that shaped public perception during a politically delicate time, and highlights the calculated use of media narratives in managing national discourse.