Former President Goodluck Jonathan has clarified that recent media reports misrepresented his comments suggesting that the late President Muhammadu Buhari had any connection with Boko Haram. In a statement issued October 4, 2025, by his media aide, Ikechukwu Eze, Jonathan insisted that at no point did he imply or insinuate that Buhari supported the terrorist group.
Jonathan’s clarification comes after backlash following remarks he made during the public launch of a book by former Chief of Defence Staff Lucky Irabor in Abuja. There, he recounted that during his presidency, Boko Haram once nominated Buhari as a mediator in negotiations with the government.
According to the statement, Jonathan’s original intent was to emphasise “the devious and manipulative strategies” Boko Haram used in its early years. The statement notes that various factions and individuals had falsely claimed to represent the group and named eminent Nigerians as mediators—sometimes without their knowledge or consent.
Jonathan questioned the logic of attributing legitimacy to Boko Haram’s claims, asking: if Buhari had indeed been their chosen negotiator, why didn’t the group end its violent campaign when he became president?
Read Also: Dangote Redeploys Laid-Off Engineers To Cement, Sugar Arms
His office also took care to underscore Jonathan’s respect for Buhari as a fellow leader who, they said, had stood firmly against terrorism and had been a target of Boko Haram violence himself.
In the statement, the former president urged Nigerians to ignore what he called “distorted interpretations” of his remarks, reaffirming his commitment to peace, national unity, and the strengthening of democratic values.
The controversy saw reactions from political circles. Garba Shehu, a former spokesman for the Buhari administration, dismissed Jonathan’s claim that Boko Haram once nominated Buhari as a mediator as false and politically motivated.
In the broader context, the Boko Haram insurgency has long been a fault line in Nigeria’s political and security discourse, with successive governments facing criticism over their handling of the crisis.