ABUJA: Vice President Kashim Shettima has told politicians in the country that they are all one in the task of nation-building irrespective of their political inclinations.

His admonition comes amid the ongoing alignment and realignment of the political class ahead of the 2027 general election.

Most recently, some opposition politicians who had earlier entered into a coalition had adopted the African Democratic Congress ADC as their platform for 2027.

Speaking on Thursday in Abuja at the unveiling of the book, “OPL245: The Inside Story of the $1.3b Nigerian Oil Bloc”, written by a former Attorney General of the Federation AGF and Minister of Justice in the President Goodluck Jonathan administration, Mr Mohammed Bello Adoke SAN, the vice president said what binds the political class together is stronger than what divides them.

Hunted globally

At the event, former President Goodluck Jonathan recalled that at the end of his tenure in 2015, several of his officials were targeted by the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

Jonathan who was represented by a former Senate President and Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF in his administration, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim said Adoke was hunted at home and abroad.

He said; “The author of this memoir, Mr. Bello Adoke, was the Attorney-General of the Federation at that time. He was hunted across the globe but today, he is alive, he is healthy, and he is here to tell his story.

“Power belongs to God. The best anyone who is blessed with the opportunity of holding public office should do is to commit to the assignment and use the opportunity to uphold truth, justice, and fairness.

“To some, the occasion may be a book presentation. To others, it is a celebration of victory over persecution”.

In his acknowledgment of protocol, Shettima recognized most of the dignitaries, many of who are of different political persuasions.

He said; “The game changer, is he still around? No, the game changer has left. But the enfant terrible of the Nigerian Governor’s Club, hate him, love him, but you can’t ignore him. Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai, former Governor of Kaduna State, and the fire-spitting leader of the Kwankwassiyya Movement, Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. So many dignitaries, which reflects the eclectic crowd of friends that Mohammed Bello Adoke maintains. We have PDP. We have new PDP. We have the coalition heavily represented by my elder brother, Malam Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai. We have the NNPP/APP/APC, but this is a reflection, this is a kaleidoscope of colours.

“What binds us together surpasses whatever that divides us. Former IGP MD Abubakar is a PDP man, okay, let me say sympathetic to PDP. We are all one. I have the best of relationship with him, in spite of our minor political differences.
And of course, Senator Daggash, are you in ADC or APC or PDP? Only God knows where you belong to”, he said lightheartedly.

Enemy No. 1

Urging Adoke to forgive his traducers, the vice president recalled how he was demonized and labelled Public Enemy Number One in the last four years of the Jonathan administration, saying he has however reconciled with the former president.

In what also portrayed Jonathan as a man who respected the rule of law, the vice president spoke of how the former president had tried to remove him as Governor of Borno State but bowed to the superior legal advice of Adoke as his AGF.

Quoting the late American cleric and rights activist, Martin Luther King Jr., Shettima said; “the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands at moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenges and controversies. In the last four years of the Jonathan administration, I was the most demonized person. I was the public enemy number one.

“And there are two gentlemen seated here. Certain decisions are taken in a very rare cycle. The President, the Vice President, the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. At one of such conclaves, former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, with whom we have sheathe the sword and have now recalibrated our relationship, was mooting the idea of removing ‘this Borno governor, this Borno governor’ and Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, the then Speaker of the House of Representatives, had the courage to tell the president that, ‘Your Excellency, you don’t have the powers to remove an elected councillor’.

“The president was still not convinced. He mooted the idea at the Federal Executive Council. I admire Mr Mohamed Bello Adoke fundamentally for his courage and for his convictions and for his capacity to stand for what he believes in. He told the then president that, ‘Mr President, you do not have the powers to remove a sitting governor, not even a councilor. They sought for the opinion of another SAN in the cabinet, Kabiru Turaki, who said, ‘I am concurring with the opinion of my senior colleague’. That was how the matter was laid to rest, but that was how my relationship with Mr Bello Adoke and Aminu Waziri Tambuwal became eternally sealed”.

The vice president also urged Nigerians leaders to always document their experiences for posterity rather than trying to cover up happenings during their time in government.

“Nigeria has endured the silence of too many who left public service with their stories still in the bonds of memories. Our public service is a territory governed by silence. There is silence to protect relationships, there is silence to protect secrets too delicate to disclose, there is silence for memories we would rather forget. As a generation of leaders, we must summon the courage to document our journeys”, he said.

The author in the book said Buhari was driven by vengeance for the late General Sani Abacha family. “He believed that I was unfair to the Abachas in the OPL 245 deal”, said Adoke.

Explaining that he did not set out to denigrate anyone but to set the records straight, the former AGF said he was not unmindful of the fact that events will eventually outlive people, hence documenting them was a more reliable way of preserving such information.

He said he was never a party to the OPL 245 deal but only carried out a presidential directive in 2011 to settle issues relating to the deal.

According to him, the amount of public funds expended on his needless and malicious prosecution was staggering, saying the Nigerian tax payer must never be made to bear such burdens.

He said while the Italian prosecutor was punished and imprisoned for 8 months, his Nigerian counterparts at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC who lied on oath were never punished, and advised that prosecutors must never be persecutors.

Adoke said he has however forgiven all those responsible for his travails including the former EFCC boss, Ibrahim Mustapha Magu who he said had apologized to him.

Book presenter, Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde who said the author has succeeded in bringing together politicians of different inclinations from the APC, PDP, Coalition and NNPP, added “it was a good forum to build elite consensus for the future of Nigeria”.

He said history must not only be recorded, it must also be contested, clarified and understood, praising Adoke for recounting his own side of events.

According to him the OPL 245 had over 9 billion barrels of crude oil which was enough to shift the country’s GDP, hence the interest generated in the case by various persons. “Up till now, the issue surrounding OPL 245 is still not sorted”, he said.

Former Senate President, Bukola Saraki said the take away from the book is the fundamentality of the rule of law, adding that the book showed the failure to adhere to the rule of law.

“As a society, we need to begin to review these kind of things. You bargained for it but your children did not bargain for it and the scars live with them forever,” he said.

On his part, El-Rufai said books like this are necessary not only to set the records straight and put things in perspective but also to encourage a culture of memoir writing in public service. “We don’t try it enough in this country”, he said.

The former Kaduna governor therefore appealed to this in the helm of affairs today to be conscious of the future, noting that like himself and Adoke, their time will also come.

“I appeal to those in power today to remember that their turn will come. Our turn always comes”, he stated.

El-Rufai said Adoke was one of those who stood behind President Goodluck Jonathan and persuaded him to concede to President Buhari after the 2015 general election, wondering how it was that he had to face such from the last administration. He said he would read the book to gain more insights.

“We should actually thank him as the APC government of 2015, not persecute him. I had several discussions with President Buhari, as you know, I was very close to him, and I didn’t see that he had any extra interest in the matter apart from the rule of law,” he said.

The OPL 245 case, also known as the Malabu oil deal scandal, revolves around the acquisition of Oil Prospecting License OPL 245, an oil bloc in Nigeria, by Shell and Eni in 2011 for $1.3 billion.

The core of the controversy lies in allegations that a significant portion of this money, specifically $1.1 billion, was channeled through intermediaries as bribes to Nigerian officials and politicians.

Adoke who was ropes into the saga by the Muhammadu Buhari administration was eventually discharged and acquitted at home and abroad.