Former presidential spokesperson Garba Shehu has admitted that the 2017 story of rats invading President Muhammadu Buhari’s office was deliberately planted to distract the public from deepening concerns over the president’s health.

The disclosure is detailed in Shehu’s newly released memoir, According to the President: Lessons from a Presidential Spokesperson’s Experience”, which was launched on Tuesday in Abuja.

In a chapter pointedly titled “Rats, Spin and All That,” Shehu recounts how the curious story became a tool to deflect attention at a politically sensitive moment.

Buhari had just returned to Nigeria on August 19, 2017, after a lengthy medical stay in the UK. The atmosphere was tense, with citizens demanding clarity about the president’s health. When it was announced that he would continue working from home instead of returning to his office at the Aso Villa, speculation surged. Conspiracy theories, including the infamous “Jibrin from Sudan” narrative pushed by IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu, only added fuel to the fire.

It was against this backdrop that the now-infamous “rat story” emerged, he revealed.

Shehu recalled how it happened almost offhandedly, during a routine chat in the Chief of Staff’s office about a faulty cable. The room hadn’t been used in months. Someone joked that perhaps rats had damaged the wiring.

“Shehu said, ‘When the surge in calls for explanation of why the president would be working from home came, I said to the reporters that the office, which had been in disuse, needed renovation because rats may have eaten and damaged some cables.’”

It was a calculated move, Shehu confessed, adding that the statement wasn’t rooted in any verified report — it was spin.

He added, “To get them off my back, I referred them to the strange rats that invaded the country in the 1980s during the rice armada… Many critics disagreed with me, saying that we were covering up the president’s ill health. Some people had a good laugh… and an insignificant few believed me.”

And it worked — at least temporarily. The image of rats evicting a sitting president from his office made international headlines. The BBC and other major outlets ran with it, unintentionally helping to change the conversation.

Shehu admits the move wasn’t universally welcomed. Inside the presidency, not everyone appreciated the stunt.

“Both of them disagreed, saying that this was well off the mark,” he wrote, referring to then Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who reportedly challenged the authenticity of the claim.

“I wanted the discussion to shift, to move to any other issue besides the president’s health and his ability to continue in office.”

Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State has restated his plan to probe the administration of his predecessor, Godwin Obaseki.

OSUNDAILY NG reports that Obaseki was the governor of the state from 2016 to 2024 until his party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was ousted by the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Incumbent Governor Okpebholo said he would set up a Commission of Inquiry to look into Obaseki’s records.

He made this known while speaking to party leaders, youths, market women, civil servants, professional bodies and groups during a victory parade held on Friday in Government House, Benin City, Edo State.

“I will open the books to check the financial dealings and how Obaseki governed Edo State in the last eight years. A university in this State received N47 million under Obaseki’s administration, while he paid a consultant N51 million. This was not good enough. They wanted to continue with this act, but God helped us to push them out.

“Since I came into the office, I have not sacked anybody but rather continued with the civil servants I met in the office. The Head of Service during Obaseki’s administration is still working with me. So also with a lot of Permanent Secretaries in the civil service,” Okpebholo stated.

According to him, officials who served in Obaseki’s government would also be interrogated on how they governed the Edo people in the last eight years.

The governor particularly said that the PDP candidate in the last governorship election, Asue Ighodalo and his party kept money for the election as well as for court cases.

Deputy Governor Dennis Idahosa, who was also excited at the Supreme Court ruling, commended the governor for helping the party win the various stages of court cases, stating that it is now time to be focused and work for the Edo people.

A former deputy governor, Comrade Philip Shaibu, thanked God for Okpebholo’s victory, adding that it is the time to work as Edo people will be grateful for voting for Senator Monday Okpebholo as their governor.

The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service has confirmed the recovery of the body of a woman who fell into a 170-foot-deep well in the Ijegun area of Lagos State.

The recovery took place nearly ten days after the tragic incident.

The accident occurred at the frontage of an uncompleted one-storey building located on Abuba Anthony Street, near Obalagbe Bus Stop, within the Igando-Ikotun Local Council Development Area.

The structure, still under construction, sits on a 648-square-metre plot and contains six two-bedroom flats.

According to the Fire and Rescue Service, a distress call was received at 7:34 p.m. on Monday, June 30, 2025. Emergency personnel from the Ejigbo Fire Station were promptly dispatched to the site, where it was confirmed that an adult woman had fallen into an uncovered well on the property.

Given the significant depth of the well and the complexity of the situation, the rescue and recovery effort involved multiple agencies. These included the Nigerian Police Force, the Lagos State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit, SEHMU, and the Lagos State Ambulance Service, LASAMBUS, which remained on standby throughout the operation.

The woman’s body was eventually recovered on Thursday morning and she was pronounced dead at the scene.

SEHMU officials took custody of the remains, while detectives from the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, Panti, oversaw and documented the process.

Director of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Mrs Margaret Adeseye, extended heartfelt condolences to the victim’s family.

She also commended the seamless collaboration among responding agencies and emphasized that an investigation, led by the Nigerian Police, is currently underway to determine the exact circumstances surrounding the incident.