Garba Shehu Admits Rat Infestation Story Was a Diversion from Buhari’s Health Issues

Muhammadu Buhari (left) and Garba Shehu (right)

Source: Africa Publicity

Former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s ex-spokesman, Garba Shehu, has revealed that the widely reported 2017 story about rats invading Nigeria’s Presidential Villa was deliberately fabricated to divert attention from Buhari’s health challenges at the time.

Shehu made the disclosure in his newly released book, According to the President: Lessons from a Presidential Spokesperson’s Experience. In Chapter 10, titled Rats, Spin and All That, Shehu explained that the narrative was planted to shift public discourse away from Buhari’s prolonged medical absence and questions about his fitness to resume office.

According to Shehu, the situation arose after fellow media aide Bashir Ahmad announced that Buhari had returned to Nigeria but would be working from home. This sparked intense media scrutiny.

“With reporters wanting to know more, the number of calls increased, with some, including BBC Hausa, interrogating me on the type of rats we had in the Villa that could eat wire cables,” Shehu wrote. “To get them off my back, I referred them to the strange rats that invaded the country in the 1980s during the rice armada from Southeast Asia.”

He recounted that during a later meeting, the then Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo questioned his handling of the situation.

“I told them the choice I made was deliberate: I wanted the discussion to shift—to move to any other issue besides the president’s health and his ability to continue in office,” Shehu said. “In my view, that spin succeeded.”