•‘Working in Aso Rock, Femi Adesina and I were like two men sharing a wife’
•Speaks on ‘nonsense cabal’
In this interview, Mallam Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to former President Muhammadu Buhari, speaks on some issues that took place in Aso Rock Villa 2015 – 2023, including the alleged existence of cabal, inaccessibility of Mr. President, his alleged support of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar against Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election as well as the story of how rats’ eating of cables in the office of the president necessitated Buhari operating from home. Excerpts:
More than two years after you and Femi Adesina served as presidential spokespersons, how has it been?
A lot of pressure has been removed from our shoulders, and as one philosopher said, “It is the cap that they follow; if you remove it and put it on another man’s head, they will follow that person”. So, we are free of all of that now. But, you still speak for former President Buhari and his family?
Yes, I do that occasionally, but we are not engaging in the manner that we used to.
Before working for former President Buhari, you were very close to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. How did it happen?
The assets they had for media and communications, including Bola Ahmed Tinubu and all of the candidates who lost that primary election to Muhammadu Buhari, they said, “go and work for him”, and, graciously, President Muhammadu Buhari found me worthy of leading his campaign after which he gave me a job as his spokesman.
You and Femi Adesina were sharing responsibilities. I think that was smart?
Yeah, I think there was wisdom in having two of us working for the president; where he will not go, I would go and where I will not go, he would go.
Again, both of you were at one point or another the President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors. People think that perhaps you were senior to him in the job…
Well, he did a bigger newspaper than I did but if you are talking about the Guild, yes, I was there earlier than him. Our friendship also pre-dated our days in the Villa. When I was the President of the Guild, Femi was one of my hench people.
They put me there and we worked, we gave every assurance and when people showed concerns about our sharing a job, then-Ekiti State Governor, Fayemi called us and said, “Look you people will fight”, and we said “no, there won’t be a fight” and, indeed, we didn’t fight. It was like two men sharing one wife and they didn’t quarrel over anything.
But, how was that?
It was alright. Recently, Femi officiated my book launch and I do officiate at his own events, too.
There was a time we heard that something was put on the air conditioner that made the president sick.
Now that you are out of that office, can you throw some light on that report?
I was not aware that anything was put in the air conditioner that made him sick and I never discussed with him the nature of the ailment and what caused it. I didn’t ask him because you and I know that the medical health of individuals is private and, as such, should be kept private as much as possible.
There was a lot of suspicion at the Villa that…
There was nothing that wasn’t said then. At a point, they said he had died and was replaced by a Jubril from Sudan.
What about the Jubril?
Laughs
There was so much difference in him before and after he went for that treatment. Why was it so?
Well, it’s difficult to say but I feel that there were far more restrictions on his activities. Before he went for the treatment, he read everything and worked very late into the night. I think after his return, there were greater controls put in place. Those managing his itinerary made sure his engagements ended at a decent time.
So, a lot of the pressure dropped. We, the officials around him, tried to regulate all of them but of course, there were glitches. For instance, when we said no visitors after 11:00pm, some family members would sneak into the compound or somebody just dropped from nowhere to see him very late in the night. But, they were far less than what it used to be.
Now, what can you tell us about the cabal at the Villa?
Let me tell you, this issue of cabal is just nonsense. Buhari was a general, even when he changed to a democrat, he was used to giving orders and not taking them from anybody. So, I tell you, I don’t know any person who will give you 100% assurance that when I tell Buhari ABC is black, he will say ABC is black. He had his own mind.
But, there were family members who were living permanently in the Villa?
No, you could have anybody around you. They could come and advise but the buck stopped on his table. I told you that nobody can guarantee 100% that if I told Buhari ABC, he will accept.
Were you ever overruled or coerced for addressing the nation during crisis?
Leaders come with their own character and nature of doing things in the office, they cannot all be the same. For instance, people used to attack us for not presenting the president for media chat on television.
That media chat suited somebody like President Obasanjo who invented it with his manner of dramatizing things. After him, who did it suit?
Certainly not President Yar ‘Adua or Jonathan. And I have said this, over and over again, that Buhari was never a show person. Don’t forget, he had his own tangle as a military leader with the media back then as a military head of state. The thing is that when it was the media, usually Buhari would say, “They are your people”. He gave us respect for that. Besides, for what happened in 1984 to come back again, certainly not. That was not what he wanted.
There were some feelers at a point that Buhari was not accessible and was also not in full control of his government. How true was that assertion?
No. Absolutely zero. I will say, with all emphasis, that President Muhammadu Buhari will be assessed, if it could be done, as the most accessible president this country ever had.
But, we understand some of his ministers were not able to see him throughout the period they served?
No, it didn’t happen with Buhari.
Presence in office was what the former Minister of Information meant. I saw that interview. Buhari wasn’t meddlesome. He never pretended as if he owned Nigeria.
There was this perception that he helped former Vice President Atiku Abubakar against Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election?
No, it didn’t happen. Somebody must have seen that in the dream. I met President Bola Ahmed Tinubu after his victory and he told me that President Buhari allowed him to win in a free and fair election.
But, there was a perception of reluctance…
Don’t mind people. Those seeking favours and those who want to ingratiate themselves with leaders will say all manner of things. President Buhari had everything; he had secret service and, as such, could say what he wanted to the governors…
But Buhari told more about five people; Tinubu, Osinbajo, Amaechi, etc, to go and contest for the same position.
Why?
Did he direct them to do that?
But, they consulted him?
You expected him to ask them not to contest?
In an interview, Buhari said that if he mentioned the person he wanted to succeed him, people might go and kill him…
Yes, that was true.
But who was the person he wanted?
Each one who came before him, he gave a certificate of no objection. “You want to run? Ok”. And, don’t forget that even that crowd who went for the primary, there was one that he saw very close to him.
Recall the joke in Buhari’s 2015 statement, “I belong to everyone, I belong to no one”. That was politics he played…
He played through to type; he didn’t seek to dictate, rather, he said the party will decide. We gave a statement to that effect and it was proven there. Name droppers could have said anything using his name but, certainly, it was never him.
Speaking from the Villa, which was your best time? Speaking under Buhari or Atiku?
Under Atiku, we were fighting for the political life of the boss (Obasanjo) who same government was set to destroy his (Atiku) politics, his family and his business. In the case of Buhari, we were still the ones being fought but, at least, we had the infrastructure of the state to fight back. So, how can one compare them?
If there is one thing you would have undone during your time of speaking for the presidency, what would that be?
I would have done more speaking for the president than I did but then, as I said at some point, there was also a sense that some people won’t see you as being genuine, as being good enough to be where you are. This is something people at that level have to contend with.
Did you ever lie while speaking for the presidency?
I just read one story where they said I lied. I was spinning the rat story. I didn’t lie. There was a story that rats ate cables in the president’s office and when I was trying to explain why the president was operating from home, I said rat destroyed cables in his office.
It happened, although that was to provide something for discussion, at least, for that moment as people were speculating that he was not good enough to continue as president. It was a spin and it backfired.
•Interview first aired on Channels TV
