It was a historic night in the history of Nigeria, as a sitting President surrendered power to an opposition.
A former Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN), has spoken about the roles played by allies of former President Goodluck Jonathan in making him concede defeat in the 2015 election.
In an interview with Newsmen, Adoke said Waripamo-Owei Dudafa, the ex-President’s former Special Adviser (SA) on Domestic Affairs, took the lead role in convincing him to accept the outcome of the election.
Jonathan, who lost to Muhammadu Buhari, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), had called to congratulate his opponent before the final results were announced.
Adoke said while some close aides of Dr. Jonathan advised him to concede defeat, some others kicked against it.
The former AGF said it was while some of them were contemplating how to meet the ex-President to urge him to concede defeat that Dafuda took the lead.
“The (former) President was visibly agitated like any other person would be. No President wants to be defeated because that is a referendum on his tenure.
“So, it was at that point, when the ex-President was still agitated that a fine young man, the Special Assistant to the President on Domestic Matters, Dudafa, shouted from the back and said: ‘Daddy, we are leaving here (Aso Rock) on May 29’.
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“That gave us the impetus to now approaching the ex-President: Myself, Osita (Chidoka) and Dudafa. We stooped before him and started counseling him; we said: ‘Mr. President, what do you want to be remembered for?’ So, he stood up crisply, went to his study and placed the call to President Buhari to make the concession,” Adoke said.
The former AGF also spoke of how Mrs. Patience Jonathan, wife of the former President, abused him when her husband’s defeat was imminent.
Adoke said he remained loyal to Dr. Jonathan, even when some of those in the administration then “were contributing money” for Buhari’s campaign.
“It is true that I was abused by the President’s wife. This happened on March 30, a day before the concession,” he said.
“I don’t blame the ex-President’s wife. I respect her as a person and I appreciate the fact that she voiced out her frustration and anger at me.
“That was better than those who pretend to be friends but would go to the (then) President to say: ‘Your Attorney General is not with you; your Attorney General is an APC member; he has sympathy for President Buhari. He is a Buhari boy’.
“In any case, most of those who were talking were the same people who contributed money for Buhari’s campaign. I, Mohammed Bello Adoke, never contributed money to Buhari’s campaign,” he added.
The former minister made some revelations about the trial of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, a stalwart of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).
He said a lawyer close to Asiwaju Tinubu played a huge role in the trial.
Adoke said: “Let me clarify this issue very well. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s trial took place, it was his case with the Code of Conduct Tribunal. It was a very unfortunate thing. But what most people don’t know is that a lot of people who claimed to be close to Asiwaju Tinubu, a particular human rights lawyer, was the one that engineered that trial.”
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