TheCable

Mohammed Bello Adoke, former attorney-general of the federation, says he did not ask former President Goodluck Jonathan not to concede the 2015 presidential election as being insinuated.

Jonathan launched his memoirs, ‘My Transition Hours’, on Tuesday and appeared to suggest that Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former minister of finance; Osita Chidoka, former minister of aviation; Adoke and Waripamowei Dudafa, senior special assistant on domestic affairs, advised him not to concede.

The former president wrote: “They were recommending sundry alternatives, but I was quiet in the midst of their discussions. I hugged my thought, figuring out how to do that which was best for the country. My personal interest was receding rapidly and the interest of Nigeria looming large.

“I excused myself and left the sitting room. I walked into my study. Even there, my mantra was a strong circle around me, supporting and comforting me.  Let the country survive. Let democracy survive. My political ambition is not worth people being ‘soaked in blood.”

Although the president has sought to clarify the vague narration in his book, Adoke told PUNCH that he and the other three persons were the heroes of the concession.

Adoke said: “My forthcoming book (‘Burden of Service’) will address the issue most comprehensively. As a patriot, I could not have advised the president not to concede defeat.  Okonjo-Iweala, Chidoka, myself and Dudafa are the real heroes of that historic concession.

“We ensured that despite pressures from the hawks within the administration, the president concede defeat by calling President Buhari as at the time he did.”

Kashim Shettima, the governor of Borno state, has also faulted Jonathan’s narration of the Chibok affair, saying the former president was hiding the facts.