Former Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, Malam Garba Shehu, has refuted claims that he betrayed former Vice President Atiku Abubakar by accepting a role in Buhari’s administration.
Speaking on Tuesday in Abuja during a media parley ahead of the launch of his memoir titled “According to the President: Lessons from a Presidential Spokesperson’s Experience”, scheduled for public presentation on July 9, Shehu addressed the controversy surrounding his political alignment.
The veteran journalist and former president of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) clarified that his decision to serve Buhari was not an act of disloyalty to Atiku. He explained that during the build-up to the 2015 general election, all presidential aspirants within the All Progressives Congress (APC), including Atiku, supported Buhari after he emerged as the party’s flag bearer by donating their campaign structures to his cause.
According to Shehu, it was on the strength of that collective support that he was appointed as the spokesperson of Buhari’s campaign council and subsequently retained as his presidential spokesperson following Buhari’s victory at the polls.
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