In a startling revelation, former presidential spokesperson Garba Shehu has confessed that the infamous story of rats overrunning Nigeria’s Presidential Villa in 2017 was never about rodents — it was a calculated attempt to divert public attention from President Muhammadu Buhari’s deteriorating health.
The disclosure comes from Shehu’s newly released memoir, “According to the President: Lessons from a Presidential Spokesperson’s Experience,” launched in Abuja earlier this week.
In Chapter 10, candidly titled “Rats, Spin and All That,” Shehu explains that the rodent tale was cooked up during a tense moment when questions about Buhari’s health and authenticity dominated public discourse — some even believing in conspiracy theories, like the “Jibrin from Sudan” clone hoax peddled by IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu.
Following Buhari’s return to Nigeria on August 19, 2017, after a prolonged medical stay in the UK, the presidency declared that the president would work from home instead of his official office.
That statement only fanned the flames of public doubt. Critics and citizens alike wondered if the man in the Villa was really Buhari — or someone else entirely.
Faced with growing media pressure and suspicion, Shehu recounted how a mundane office conversation about minor cable damage — potentially caused by rats — became the seed for a viral distraction.
“I said to reporters that the office, which had been in disuse, needed renovation because rats may have eaten and damaged some cables,” Shehu wrote.
The statement caught global attention. The “rat invasion” trended internationally, even cracking the BBC World News’ top five bulletin stories.
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The absurdity of the story invited ridicule and disbelief. Journalists, including the BBC Hausa Service, began demanding details about the nature and species of the so-called rodents.
To deflect further scrutiny, Shehu drew an obscure historical comparison:
“I referred them to the strange rats that invaded the country in the 1980s during the rice armada from Southeast Asia. Those rats, it was said, could eat anything,” he noted.
While some laughed, others were not amused. Internally, the move faced resistance. Shehu recalled being questioned by then-Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Information Minister Lai Mohammed, who criticized the deception.
But Shehu defended his choice:
“The idea was to redirect the national conversation. I was desperate to move attention away from Buhari’s health,” he maintained, calling the ploy a “deliberate spin.”
Whether successful or not, the episode underscores the level of media strategy — or manipulation — at play in Nigerian politics, especially at times of national uncertainty.