‘I saw my resignation on TV’ — Garba Shehu recalls 2003 ouster as Atiku’s media aide

Garba Shehu, former presidential spokesperson, says he learned of his dismissal as media aide to Atiku Abubakar, then vice-president, from a television news broadcast in 2003.

In his new memoir, According to the President: Lessons from a Presidential Spokesperson’s Experience, launched in Abuja on Tuesday, Shehu linked his removal to the growing rift between Atiku and then President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Shehu recounted the circumstances surrounding his abrupt exit from government service, saying he was never officially informed of his removal.

“One day on the television news, I learnt that I had been appointed a special assistant to the vice president on media (My appointment was dated 1 June 2003),” he wrote.

“Though somewhat surprised, I had no hesitation in accepting the offer. I considered it a call to national duty.”

But only six months later, Shehu said he received a call from the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) informing him that his resignation would be announced that evening.

“Six months or so after the appointment, someone from NTA called me and said, ‘We are going to announce your resignation tonight’.

“I told them I hadn’t resigned, but they insisted the government said I had. They claimed there was a resignation letter. I said ‘okay’ without any worries.”

Shehu said the call came just after returning from an engagement at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) in Kuru, Jos. He was dismissed two days before Christmas in 2003.

He linked his ouster to Atiku’s desire to contest the presidency and his need to control his public image outside the constraints of the Presidential Villa.

“Even though he had an excellent media team — certainly better than what the president had — the VP was aware that the structures of government posed such a peculiar operational challenge that we could not do our best for him,” he wrote.

Shehu said Atiku later advised him to operate from outside government.

“It’s better you operate from outside the government,” Atiku reportedly told Shehu.

That advice led to the establishment of the Atiku Media Office, where Shehu became coordinator, reporting directly to the former vice president.