Ex-Minister Dalung Counters Garba Shehu, Says Boko Haram Nominated Buhari As Negotiator

A former Minister of Sport in the cabinet of the late President Muhammadu Buhari, Barr. Solomon Dalung, has countered the ex-spokesman to the former President, Garba Shehu, saying the deceased political leader was actually nominated as a negotiator by the terrorist group Boko Haram in 2012 before he became elected President of Nigeria in 2015.

LEADERSHIP recalls that at a book launch on Boko Haram insurgency last week in Abuja, former President Goodluck Jonathan had lamented his inability to curtail the terrorist group, reminiscing how it once nominated the then retired General Muhammadu Buhari as a representative at government-planned negotiation table.

But, reacting swiftly to the statement, a former media aide to the late former President Buhari, Garba Shehu, countered and berated Jonathan for the statement, saying Buhari’s predecessor was only playing dirty politics in anticipation for his planned return to office through 2027 elections. He said Buhari was never nominated for such a role by terrorists and that he was not even aware of the offer.

However, Dalung, who was a political ally of the late Buhari and served as Sport Minister in his cabinet from 2015 to 2019, reacted to the debacle via a Facebook post on Tuesday, saying the terrorists actually nominated Buhari to speak for them but that he rejected the offer.

He said the historical reference by former President Jonathan was correct but unnecessary and meant to score a political point, recalling that he was nominated alongside late Buhari and late Kebbi-born Islamic cleric, Sheikh Abubakar Gerei Argungu by the Boko Haram.

The former Minister wrote: “I owed it a covenant to speak the truth about the legacies of my late boss and leader, President Muhammadu Buhari. When he invited me to join his political journey, he said—and I quote, “I know you don’t spare anyone when it comes to speaking your mind; please don’t spare me whenever I err.” I have kept this promise throughout his lifetime, and I intend to uphold it even after his passing. Speaking truthfully about his leadership is both a duty and an honor I owe to our shared history.

“The ongoing controversy regarding the alleged nomination of the late President Muhammadu Buhari by Boko Haram, as raised by former President Goodluck Jonathan at a book launch in Abuja, is unnecessary and politically motivated. However, for the record, I can confirm that sometime in 2012, the then spokesperson of Boko Haram, Habu Kaka, made an announcement on Radio Deutsche Welle Hausa Session, Germany, naming General Muhammadu Buhari, Barrister Solomon Dalung, and Sheikh Abubakar Gerei Argungu as nominees for peace negotiations with the Federal Government.

“General Muhammadu Buhari immediately issued a public statement rejecting the nomination. Therefore, what former President Jonathan referred to was indeed a historical event, though resurrected now with political undertones. It is important for posterity that facts are distinguished from politics, and history from propaganda.”