Former presidential spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu, said he has documented his experiences while serving former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former President Muhammadu Buhari in a book to be unveiled next week.
The book titled “According to the President: Lessons from a Presidential spokesman’experience” is segmented into ten chapters.
Addressing a press conference Tuesday in Abuja, Shehu dismissed misconceptions in some quarters that he betrayed Atiku Abubakar while serving Muhammadu Buhari as a presidential spokesman, saying such did not happen.
When asked, he said: “I was with Atiku at the 2014 APC primary in Lagos and we lost the primary. As at that, Buhari had grace to call me to head his media team, as director. This was when all the aspirants that lost at the primary, Tinubu didn’t run, but Kwankoso, Rochas, late Sam Nda-Isaiah and Atiku. All of them donated their campaign assets, including Asiwaju, who did not run to the winner of the primary (Buhari) and that is how we came together and form the media campaign team.
“With assets from Asiwaju, Atiku, Rochas and others. We were all donated to him (Buhari) and he had grace to nominate me as the campaign media Director.
“I that election, we ran a very decent campaign and we won. We did not go to the gutters. They really wanted us to go into the gutters and fight dirty but we never. We were fortunate also because Nigerians wanted that change.
” Why will I not attack Atiku while serving Buhari? You learn from people. When Abiola’s election was annulled by IBB, and he eventually died, before then, did anyone of you heard the presidential spokesman accusing him that time. May his soul rest in peace. Did you ever heard him attack Abiola as he worked with President IBB?
“So you learn from people and the common sense is that, if I was with Buhari and I attack Atiku, how will Buhari then trust me. Because he knows that one day I will change to another master and I will go after him.
“You have to be careful, even if you work with the President who trusted you, the people around him may not trust you.”
Mallam Shehu said the book sought to provide a reading material to students of communication, journalism practitioners, and researchers on the lessons learned in many years of presidential communications.
“The book documents those rough and tough moments, not only for the vice president but also for those who were around him.
“I was arrested and detained several times by the DSS, and by an order of a judge, I was thrown into the Kuje prison.
“My trial spanning over a two-year period and the eventual acquittal; the how and why it happened should provide a heads up to journalism practitioners.
“When he won the presidential primary, Muhammadu Buhari graciously asked me to be the media director of the campaign.
“From then onwards, all through the eight years in Villa, we had a contrasting experience because we were the ones that were being fought. A Hausa proverb says if you are eating mangoes, flies will come.”
According to Shehu, the book tries to build on what Femi Adesina and several others have done, which is to authoritatively document the achievements and some of the historic decisions of the Buhari administration in eight years.
“It brings President Buhari up close: how did he govern? What did he eat? And the clothes he wears for some occasions?”