Boko Haram Never Nominated Buhari for Peace Talks, Says Garba Shehu in Response to Jonathan’s Claim

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has said that Boko Haram once nominated the late Muhammadu Buhari, his successor, to represent the group in peace negotiations with the federal government. Jonathan made the remark on Friday in Abuja during the public presentation of *Scars*, a memoir written by former Chief of Defence Staff, Lucky Irabor.

According to Jonathan, the nomination came after his administration set up committees to explore dialogue with the insurgents. “One of the committees we set up then, the Boko Haram, nominated Buhari to lead their team to negotiate with the government,” he said.

Reacting to the claim, former presidential spokesperson Garba Shehu dismissed Jonathan’s comments as false and politically driven. In a statement, Shehu said neither of the insurgent group’s late leaders, Muhammed Yusuf or Abubakar Shekau, ever nominated Buhari for such a role. He added that Shekau repeatedly denounced and threatened Buhari, who narrowly escaped a Boko Haram bomb attack in Kaduna in 2014.

Shehu recalled that Buhari himself had denied knowledge of any such nomination. Citing Buba Galadima, former national secretary of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), he noted that Buhari described the reports at the time as mere speculation and said no one had contacted him about mediation.

He explained that the confusion likely stemmed from a 2012 press conference in Maiduguri, Borno State, where a man claiming to be a Boko Haram commander, Abu Mohammed Ibn Abdulaziz, listed Buhari and other northern leaders as potential mediators. According to Shehu, Abdulaziz’s statement was swiftly disowned by the insurgents, who said he had no authority to speak for them.

Shehu also recalled that the then CPC national publicity secretary, the late Rotimi Fashakin, had accused the Jonathan administration of exploiting the report for political advantage. Fashakin described Buhari’s alleged nomination as “a diversionary tactic” by what he called “an organically corrupt PDP-led government.”

Concluding his statement, Shehu advised Jonathan to “look for a better story” if he intends to remain politically relevant ahead of the 2027 elections.