Loyalists of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari have dismissed claims by ex-President Goodluck Jonathan that Boko Haram terrorists once nominated Buhari to represent them in negotiations with the federal government.

Speaking on behalf of Buhari’s camp, his former media aide, Mallam Garba Shehu, issued a strongly worded statement on Friday night, urging Jonathan to “look for another story to tell Nigerians.”

Shehu said Jonathan’s claim was false, recalling that in 2014, Boko Haram targeted Buhari in a bomb attack in Kaduna, where some of his aides sustained injuries.

“We are compelled to respond to a terrible statement made by Jonathan, to the effect that Boko Haram had nominated Muhammadu Buhari to dialogue with government. If this is a campaign statement towards his 2027 ambition, he is making a false start,” Shehu declared.

He stressed that neither Boko Haram founder Mohammed Yusuf nor its former leader Abubakar Shekau ever nominated Buhari. On the contrary, Shehu noted, Shekau “routinely denounced and threatened Buhari” because their ideologies were directly opposed.

Citing records, Shehu recalled that in 2012, reports circulated that a faction of Boko Haram had named Buhari, alongside the late Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim, former Petroleum Minister Shettima Ali Monguno, Ambassador Gaji Gatimari, and others, as potential mediators. However, Buhari immediately distanced himself from the claim.

At the time, then-Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) Secretary, Buba Galadima, said Buhari was never contacted:

“As at 10 p.m. yesterday when I spoke with him, he said he had not even heard about it,” Galadima told reporters, adding that Buhari dismissed the report as mere speculation.

Similarly, the late CPC Publicity Secretary, Rotimi Fashekun, accused Jonathan’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of exploiting the false narrative for political gain.

Fashekun had described Buhari’s alleged nomination as “the latest gambit of an organically corrupt PDP-led Federal Government to divert attention from massive looting.” He insisted Buhari “never had any connection with insurrection or insurgency” and called him a “quintessential patriot.”

The CPC leadership at the time also suggested that Jonathan’s government was complicit in worsening insecurity. Fashekun argued that Boko Haram had splintered into three factions: the original sect avenging the killing of its leader, a criminal faction profiting from crime, and what he termed “Political Boko Haram,” which he accused the PDP government of representing.

Shehu, in his latest statement, echoed these positions, concluding:

“To win in 2027, Dr. Jonathan should look for a better story to tell Nigerians.”