Allies of former President Muhammadu Buhari have dismissed as “false and misleading” a recent claim by ex-President Goodluck Jonathan that the Boko Haram terrorist group once nominated Buhari to represent them in peace talks with the federal government.
Reacting to Jonathan’s statement, which they described as a possible campaign message ahead of a rumoured 2027 presidential bid, Buhari’s associates said the former president must “look for another story to tell Nigerians.”
They insisted that neither the late Boko Haram founder, Mohammed Yusuf, nor his successor, Abubakar Shekau, ever nominated Buhari for any mediation role, noting that Shekau frequently denounced the former military leader and targeted him in attacks.
“In 2014, General Buhari narrowly escaped a bomb attack by Boko Haram in Kaduna, during which his aides sustained injuries. His campaign consistently focused on defeating the terrorist group and restoring national security, placing him in direct opposition to their extremist ideology,” a statement read.
Back in 2011, when reports first emerged that Boko Haram had named Buhari among proposed mediators, he denied any knowledge of the move. Engr. Buba Galadima, then National Secretary of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), clarified that Buhari had not been contacted and dismissed the claim as speculation.
“He said he had not even heard about it. Since nobody contacted him, he could not know who was behind it or what their motives were,” Galadima told journalists at the time. “
The claim, it was later discovered, stemmed from a press conference held by a self-proclaimed Boko Haram commander, Abu Mohammed Ibn Abdulaziz, in Maiduguri.
Abdulaziz listed Buhari, the late former Petroleum Minister Shettima Ali Monguno, and other northern leaders as preferred mediators. However, Shekau’s faction swiftly disowned Abdulaziz, saying he lacked any mandate to speak for the group.
Rotimi Fashekun, then CPC National Publicity Secretary, accused Jonathan’s administration and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of politicising the story to distract Nigerians from allegations of widespread corruption under their watch.
He described Buhari’s supposed nomination as “the latest gambit in the PDP-led government’s attempt to divert public attention from the ongoing massive looting of the nation’s resources.”
