GARBA Shehu, a presidential spokesman to President Muhammadu Buhari, has explained why he was sacked by former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, when he served in the oust administration of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Mr Shehu who served as a media aide to former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, during the Obasanjo administration is now the Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity to President Buhari.



His explanation contained in an essay he published on Sunday titled, ‘The Real Price Of Change The Change Campaign (2)’ is in response to Reno Omokri, a ‘pastor’ and former aide to President Goodluck Jonathan who accused him of demonstrating a lack of strong ethical values by jumping from one politician to another.

Mr Shehu, had while reacting to the apology tendered by the PDP to Nigerians urged the opposition to return the nation’s resources it looted as a sign of remorse for its misrule rather than angling to return to power in 2019.



“The PDP is desperate to recapture power because it no longer has unhindered access to national resources for private uses and its apology should be seen in this context.



“The PDP has not even acknowledged the fact that it plundered the national economy, and for a party that dismissed the anti-corruption war as a political witchhunt, it is impossible to believe that its public apology comes from the bottom of the heart.

“Even desperate thieves apologize because they are caught and not because they are incapable of repeating the crime if they had another opportunity.

“We believe that the PDP should not only apologize for the imposition of candidates, and the culture of impunity, but must also come clean and acknowledge that they participated in large scale corruption and massive diversions of public funds to private pockets while poverty was ravaging the ordinary Nigerians,” Shehu said in a statement issued in Abuja two months ago.



However, in a statement circulated last week, Mr Omokri said Mr Shehu lacked the moral grounds to insult the PDP because he was “brought” into the “limelight” by the erstwhile ruling party.

“The PDP brought Garba to limelight. The PDP is Garba’s mother and father. When Garba Shehu indicts PDP for 16 years of alleged ‘misrule’ he should accept responsibility for 12 of those years,” Mr Omokri, said.

He said Mr Shehu was the author of many scathing press statements against Muhammadu Buhari, who was then a major opposition figure.

“Now he crafts press releases for the same man he once attacked against the same people he once praised!

“Garba is the epitome of AGIP-Any Government in Power. I am the epitome of loyalty. There is no basis to compare myself with him. I follow my conscience. Garba follows his stomach.” Omokri added, challenging Shehu to counter him if he was lying.

Responding, Mr Shehu questioned Omokri’s status as a pastor, brushing aside the criticism and said his detractor was a nonentity at the time he worked at the State House in the 2000s.

He also said the time frame he worked for Mr Abubakar differed from the one Omokri published.

“For those Reno tried to mislead, yes it is a fact that I worked in the media office of a PDP administration. Not for five years as the new-day pastor published but only for six months at which point it was announced on NTA news, to my surprise, that my letter of resignation had been accepted when I hadn’t written any.



“I learned of course that I was fired because the head of the country at that time, who believed that every published criticism was sponsored by an insider, read the weekly magazine, The News, and didn’t like what was written about him,” Shehu added.

He also rendered details of how he switched from Mr Abubakar to Mr Buhari in 2015.

“When they lost to Muhammadu Buhari in the party primaries, the candidates in that race, Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, Waziri Atiku Abubakar, Rochas Okorocha and Sam Nda-Isaiah surrendered their media assets to the winner who had the grace to ask me to lead the media team. When we won, he (then President-elect Buhari) invited me to serve as one of his two spokespersons and I pledged 100 per cent loyalty to him and that’s where I am. This cannot be AGIP by any standards.

“Reno should stop lying, if only to help the pastoral calling to retain its good name. Otherwise he should quit the ministry,” he said.

Source: https://www.headlineng.com/shehu-obasanjo-sacked-me-buharis-spokesman/

lalasticlala

Wow,this is getting more interesting than I ever imagined.

We know this strategy.....
Deflect us from the realities...by offering yourself for the incapacities of your Principal....you and that Delta lady/man/woman planned this....
But we will remain resolute and criticise you the way you criticised Jonathan until democracy is restored,until you fulfill your campaign promises,or we send you this time to become abacha's spokesperson....
How can your government arrest the malaise of killings in the NE and other parts of Nigeria?
What are the plans of fighting corruption?
How can we get our medicals running?
What happened to your main campaign promise of restructuring..?

Stop trying to deflect attention,today is Obasanjo who was your navigator a few years back....I know you will still go at atiku..who was your former principal,and you are not AGIP......agbaya...

Continue deceiving yourself...s'egbo....

first it was benue killings, taraba killings folowed, offa robbery next, then saraki, then dino meleye, then IGP, now garba shehu. . .must we be distracted by things that are it relevant in these country. . .

The target audience of Reno, FFK, Fayose and the likes are the same category of people. Awon eyan Elede....!
They know how to play ping pong with their brains

progress69:
The target audience of Reni, FFK, Fayose and the likes are the same category of people. Awon eyan Elede....!
Believe them at ur own peril

So make I believe shehu and lie Muhammad?