{"id":169166,"date":"2025-07-11T20:30:25","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T19:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/rat-invasion-at-aso-villa-a-ploy-to-conceal-buharis-health"},"modified":"2025-07-11T21:35:50","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T20:35:50","slug":"rat-invasion-at-aso-villa-a-ploy-to-conceal-buharis-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rat-invasion-at-aso-villa-a-ploy-to-conceal-buharis-health","title":{"rendered":"Rat Invasion at Aso Villa: A Ploy to Conceal Buhari’s Health"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Former presidential spokesperson Garba Shehu has admitted that the 2017 story of rats invading President Muhammadu Buhari\u2019s office was deliberately planted to distract the public from deepening concerns over the president\u2019s health.<\/p>\n

The disclosure is detailed in Shehu\u2019s newly released memoir, According to the President: Lessons from a Presidential Spokesperson\u2019s Experience\u201d, which was launched on Tuesday in Abuja.<\/p>\n

In a chapter pointedly titled \u201cRats, Spin and All That,\u201d Shehu recounts how the curious story became a tool to deflect attention at a politically sensitive moment.<\/p>\n

Buhari had just returned to Nigeria on August 19, 2017, after a lengthy medical stay in the UK. The atmosphere was tense, with citizens demanding clarity about the president\u2019s health. When it was announced that he would continue working from home instead of returning to his office at the Aso Villa, speculation surged. Conspiracy theories, including the infamous \u201cJibrin from Sudan\u201d narrative pushed by IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu, only added fuel to the fire.<\/p>\n

It was against this backdrop that the now-infamous \u201crat story\u201d emerged, he revealed.<\/p>\n

Shehu recalled how it happened almost offhandedly, during a routine chat in the Chief of Staff\u2019s office about a faulty cable. The room hadn\u2019t been used in months. Someone joked that perhaps rats had damaged the wiring.<\/p>\n

\u201cShehu said, \u2018When the surge in calls for explanation of why the president would be working from home came, I said to the reporters that the office, which had been in disuse, needed renovation because rats may have eaten and damaged some cables.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a calculated move, Shehu confessed, adding that the statement wasn\u2019t rooted in any verified report \u2014 it was spin.<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cTo get them off my back, I referred them to the strange rats that invaded the country in the 1980s during the rice armada… Many critics disagreed with me, saying that we were covering up the president\u2019s ill health. Some people had a good laugh… and an insignificant few believed me.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it worked \u2014 at least temporarily. The image of rats evicting a sitting president from his office made international headlines. The BBC and other major outlets ran with it, unintentionally helping to change the conversation.<\/p>\n

Shehu admits the move wasn\u2019t universally welcomed. Inside the presidency, not everyone appreciated the stunt.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth of them disagreed, saying that this was well off the mark,\u201d he wrote, referring to then Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who reportedly challenged the authenticity of the claim.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted the discussion to shift, to move to any other issue besides the president\u2019s health and his ability to continue in office.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Nigeria<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. Former presidential spokesperson Garba Shehu has admitted that the 2017 story of rats invading President Muhammadu Buhari\u2019s office was deliberately planted to distract the public from deepening concerns over the president\u2019s health. The disclosure is detailed in Shehu\u2019s newly released memoir, According to the President: Lessons from a Presidential Spokesperson\u2019s Experience\u201d, which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":169164,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[91,87,254],"class_list":["post-169166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-garba-shehu","tag-muhammadu-buhari","tag-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"\nRat Invasion at Aso Villa: A Ploy to Conceal Buhari's Health - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former presidential spokesperson Garba Shehu has admitted that the 2017 story of rats invading President Muhammadu Buhar ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rat-invasion-at-aso-villa-a-ploy-to-conceal-buharis-health\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rat Invasion at Aso Villa: A Ploy to Conceal Buhari's Health\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former presidential spokesperson Garba Shehu has admitted that the 2017 story of rats invading President Muhammadu Buhar ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rat-invasion-at-aso-villa-a-ploy-to-conceal-buharis-health\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-11T19:30:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-11T20:35:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/07\/sm_1752253661.128647.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rat-invasion-at-aso-villa-a-ploy-to-conceal-buharis-health#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rat-invasion-at-aso-villa-a-ploy-to-conceal-buharis-health\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Rat Invasion at Aso Villa: A Ploy to Conceal Buhari’s Health\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-11T19:30:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-11T20:35:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rat-invasion-at-aso-villa-a-ploy-to-conceal-buharis-health\"},\"wordCount\":465,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rat-invasion-at-aso-villa-a-ploy-to-conceal-buharis-health#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/07\/sm_1752253661.128647.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Garba Shehu\",\"Muhammadu Buhari\",\"Nigeria\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rat-invasion-at-aso-villa-a-ploy-to-conceal-buharis-health#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rat-invasion-at-aso-villa-a-ploy-to-conceal-buharis-health\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/rat-invasion-at-aso-villa-a-ploy-to-conceal-buharis-health\",\"name\":\"Rat Invasion at Aso Villa: A Ploy to Conceal Buhari's Health - 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