In a startling revelation that peels back the layers of official deception at the heart of Nigeria’s presidency, former presidential spokesperson Garba Shehu has confessed that the infamous “Aso Rock rat invasion” story was a deliberate fabrication—masterfully designed to divert attention from then-President Muhammadu Buhari’s deteriorating health.
Shehu made this confession in his recently released memoir, “According to the President: Lessons from a Presidential Spokesperson’s Experience,” offering rare behind-the-scenes insight into how Nigeria’s seat of power managed public perception during one of its most secretive health crises.
It will be recalled that President Buhari returned to Nigeria on August 19, 2017, after a nearly three-month medical sojourn in the United Kingdom—a prolonged absence that had stirred nationwide concern and intense scrutiny over his ability to govern. Upon his return, instead of resuming duties from his official office, Buhari’s media team announced that he would be working from home due to “renovations.”
To a skeptical public, the explanation only deepened suspicions about the true state of the president’s health.
Under mounting pressure from local and international media to offer a more convincing explanation, Garba Shehu opted for an unconventional—some might say outlandish—strategy.
In Chapter 10 of his book, aptly titled “Rats, Spin and All That,” Shehu recounts the moment of inspiration that led to the bizarre yet headline-grabbing narrative.
> “In the few hours after the president’s return, I picked up a conversation in the Chief of Staff’s office, where someone speculated that rats might have caused some damage to the unused office cables,” Shehu wrote.
“As pressure mounted from reporters demanding an explanation for why the president wasn’t resuming work from his office, I leaned into that speculation. I told them that rats may have eaten and damaged cables and that renovations were ongoing.”
The statement sparked a media frenzy, with outlets around the world questioning the type of rodents that could allegedly sabotage the Nigerian presidency. Shehu recalls how he doubled down on the narrative by referencing legendary “super rats” from the 1980s that came with rice shipments from Southeast Asia—rodents said to be capable of chewing through anything.
> “I got calls from several journalists, including from BBC Hausa, asking what kind of rats we had in the Villa. To get them off my back, I invoked memories of the notorious rats of the 1980s…”
While the explanation drew widespread ridicule and backlash, it also achieved its intended goal—shifting the national conversation away from Buhari’s health and onto the absurdity of rats disabling a presidential office.
According to Shehu, this diversion was a strategic media win.
> “At a later meeting, Minister of Information Lai Mohammed and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo asked why I had gone with that story. I told them it was intentional. I wanted the conversation to shift away from the president’s health. In my view, that spin worked.”
However, both officials reportedly disagreed with his conclusion, arguing that the distraction may have ultimately backfired, reinforcing suspicions rather than dispelling them.
Throughout his presidency, Buhari was dogged by health concerns, frequently travelling abroad for undisclosed medical treatments. Critics often cited his absences as a sign of weak leadership and poor transparency, raising questions about succession planning and executive accountability in Africa’s most populous nation.
Shehu’s disclosure—though belated—adds weight to longstanding allegations that the Buhari administration manipulated public narratives to conceal the president’s medical challenges, and reveals just how far presidential handlers were willing to go to control the optics of governance.
As Nigerians continue to dissect Shehu’s book, one thing is certain: the legacy of the “rat invasion” has now mutated from a national joke into a case study on political spin, strategic misdirection, and the unsettling power of media manipulation at the highest levels.
PIONEER NEWS 