Former Nigerian 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 has been dismissed by Garba Shehu, a former presidential spokesperson. Shehu, who served as Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the late President Buhari, responded to Jonathan’s statement in a post on X, stating that Boko Haram did not nominate Buhari as their mediator.
Jonathan had made the claim at the public presentation of a book authored by former Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, in Abuja. He said his administration had set up several committees to dialogue with the sect and that in one of those efforts, Boko Haram had nominated Buhari to lead their team to negotiate with the government. Jonathan noted that the failure to end Boko Haram showed the conflict was more complex than many believed.
Shehu described Jonathan’s statement as “a terrible claim” and “a false start” if intended to support a future political ambition. He argued that the deceased leaders of Boko Haram, Muhammed Yusuf or Abubakar Shekau, 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.
The former aide also referenced the 2012 statement by the then Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), led by Buhari, which denied his alleged nomination by the terrorist group. The CPC’s National Secretary, Buba Galadima, had clarified that Buhari “was not aware of the appointment.” Shehu noted that the CPC’s National Publicity Secretary, Rotimi Fashekun, had criticized the then Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led government, calling the claim “a ploy to divert Nigerians’ attention from massive looting.”
Jonathan’s claim has sparked a debate about the complexity of the Boko Haram conflict and the need for a comprehensive approach to end the insurgency. The former president urged the current administration to adopt both carrot-and-stick approaches to end the crisis. The dispute between Jonathan and Shehu highlights the challenges of finding a lasting solution to the Boko Haram insurgency, which has plagued Nigeria for over a decade.
