Buhari’s Aso Rock Rats And Matters Arising

 By Dele Sobowale

“Every government is run by liars; and nothing they say should be believed…” – I. F. Stone, 1907-1989

I was halfway through with the article intended for this week when two things happened. Former President Buhari, 1943-2025, passed on in a London Hospital; where he undoubtedly had gone to save his life.

*Buhari 

Unfortunately, the man might have realised that only Allah gives life. Without Almighty Allah’s approval, all the best doctors on Earth labour in vain. Incidentally, I almost went a few days before Buhari.

I was given extended tenure above ground by an overworked doctor in a General Hospital in Nigeria.

So much for overseas’ treatments! Garba Shehu, a former Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to Buhari, had launched a book titled, ‘According to the President: Lessons from a Presidential Spokesperson’s Experience’, in which he confessed to telling reporters a lie about the former President’s health condition.

Garba’s story is about rats which allegedly invaded the President’s office; that is, rodents inhabiting anywhere human beings store food. But, this article is about two-legged “rats” occupying Aso Rock.

Incredible as it might appear, those small crawlers, who we are eager to eliminate, irrespective of their numbers, cause infinitesimally less damage to the nation and its people than the human Aso Rock rats.

Buhari’s death and Garba’s confession provide the background for a very serious matter which has affected our nation negatively since 2017 till today.

HOW THE LIES ABOUT BUHARI’S HEALTH SITUATION UNFOLDED

“The President is hale and hearty” – Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Federal Minister of Information, 2017.

After Buhari had been away for almost three months in 2017, Nigerians became worried; the media asked questions repeatedly about his whereabouts.

Without realising it, officials of the Buhari government, the Kitchen Cabinet and, most importantly, the Bedroom Cabinet – defined as the very few who could enter Baba’s bedroom anytime – had followed the familiar road paved by late President Yar’Adua’s team in 2009 to 2010.

They literally kidnapped the former President; limited access to him by his Ministers and Special Advisers; and issued instructions on his behalf.

When Lai Mohammed pronounced Buhari “hale and hearty”, he was either speaking out of absolute ignorance (disgraceful for a Minister of Information not fake news) or he was being deliberately deceptive. In actual fact, Buhari was fighting for his life when Lai spoke to us.

The lie was exposed by Buhari himself on August 19, 2017 when, on his arrival, he announced: “I have never been so sick in my life”.

Mohammed’s falsehood, reprehensible as it was, pales by comparison with the veil of secrecy and the conspiracy of silence which followed Buhari’s arrival. Apparently, the ex-president returned almost as a basket case – hardly able to sit for the long hours required to perform effectively.

He was secluded most of the time; and only a few people had direct access to him.

Garba Shehu was not one of them; but, he had a vital role to play in the longest cover-up of presidential infirmity in the history of Nigeria.

“A secrete is best kept when it is between two people – with one dead” – Dele Sobowale, 2008.

Buhari returned to Nigeria in 2017 as a terminal case to be kept alive with tons of money.

That partly explains why his government has refused to tell Fellow Nigerians how much of our money was spent to keep him alive.

Two nurses born by Nigerian parents but married to Britons worked in the hospital where he was being treated. Information kept from Nigerians was not a secret to some people in the United Kingdom and Nigeria. Enough!

His return created a problem for the people in government.

It was obvious that he would be frequently absent from duty – particularly in the first few months after his return.

A story was required to serve as the basis for the massive cover-up.

Garba Shehu provided it with the yarn about rats in Aso Rock. Reproduced below, in his own words, was how Nigerians and the world were deceived by one of Buhari’s top spokesmen.

“When the surge in calls for explanation of why the President would be working from home, if truly he had recovered his health and fit for office came, I said to the reporters that the office, which had been in disuse, needed renovation because rats may have eaten and damaged the cables. To get them (journalists) off my back, I referred them to the strange rats that invaded the country in the 1980s during the rice armada…” I suggest you read again the entire confession by a journalist, and former Editor – who was nurtured on the principle that facts are sacred.

By his own admission, Garba had deliberately told “them” (journalists) a colossal lie about the health condition of the President of Nigeria – who had been returned to Nigeria in a poor condition physically and, perhaps, mentally as well.

His vastly diminished capacity for decision-making would have far reaching negative implications for our dear country.

As someone who has been through life threatening health challenges, and who has shared experiences with others, I can state authoritatively that working from home, under diminished health, is not a holiday.

It is an ordeal; and tranquilizers are your constant companions.

The patient is asleep more than half of the time. Meanwhile, the business of government continues 24/7 requiring the attention of a Commander-In-Chief, C-I-C, who is now helpless.

Power abhors a vacuum; and the vacancy is soon filled by those very close to the seat of power. 

To begin with, the Bedroom Cabinet seizes power in a bloodless coup – just as they did with Yar’Adua and Jonathan. Not wanting to hand over to Osinbajo, they most probably acted on Buhari’s behalf; made appointments; authorised financial disbursements; fired people. So, while Garba was indulging in self-congratulations for getting away with a cock-and-bull story, grave and lasting constitutional infractions were being perpetrated.

An example will help to clarify the point being made here.

WHO AUTHORISED THE WITHDRAWAL OF $30BN FROM CBN?

“Lies seldom stand alone” – American city Chief of Police.

The police officer, who was well-respected for his instincts in detecting complex crimes, attributed his success to following one lie told by the suspects to uncover more until the case is thrown wide open.

It was towards the end of March 2023 that Buhari disclosed to Fellow Nigerians that his government had illegally collected N22.4 trillion from the Central Bank of Nigeria. Best test of honesty is money; the acid test of integrity is power.

Voluntarily, Buhari confessed to repeated violation of several parts of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which he swore to uphold; not once, but several times.

First, he colluded to exceed the legal limits several times over.

That was bad enough.

He did it without approval from the National Assembly; making it an impeachable offense committed repeatedly.

The NASS only got to know about the raid on the CBN when it was too late to contemplate impeachment.

Nothing could have been more dishonourable.

Nigeria was pitched into a debt trap from which three generations cannot now escape.  

The real question which should bother our minds is: Who was signing all those requests for release of funds from the CBN?

Could Buhari had been so sick that forgers were signing on his behalf without consulting him?

That question should not be dismissed without consideration for three reasons. 

I have lived long in Lagos, with two late brothers who were lawyers and there is nothing more common in litigation, especially by families litigating a will, than allegation of forged signatures.

An almost lifeless individual purportedly signs a will favourable to those who produced it.

It might require the services of experts to detect the forgery.

So nobody should put it past Nigerians that the signature of a president on his last legs cannot be ruled out.

There was precedent. 

When Yar’Adua was returned in a life-saving contraption to Nigeria in 2010, very few individuals had access to him. Yet, various arms of government were receiving instructions to release funds purportedly signed by a man who was vegetating; he could hardly seat up.

Two long term sources in the Federal Ministry of Finance reported that at one point, three different signatures were appearing on documents bearing Yar’Adua’s signature.

Till today nobody knows if Yar’Adua was aware of those instructions issued in his name. 

Right now, there is a case going on whose outcome hinges on who signed a document used to withdraw funds from the CBN.

For obvious reasons the case cannot be cited.

But, as far as I am concerned, and without prejudice to the two sides in the case, it is fair to point out that the document might actually have originated from the Presidency; Aso Rock rats might have taken advantage of another president who was vegetating to forge his signature.

THE LAST STATEMENTS BUHARI HEARD AND THE TRIBUTES

It is my personal policy never to write a tribute to a public figure.

They get to know how I feel about them while alive.

Three statements were made about Buhari a few days before he passed on: “I inherited a country near bankruptcy”—Tinubu, July 3, 2025.

“Nigeria on the brink when Tinubu assumed office” – Ribadu, July 6, 2025.

“Nigeria ‘dead’ before Tinubu took over”—Wike, July 7, 2025. 

He read those; he will never read the tributes. 

*Dr. Sobowale is a commentator on public issues