…VP Recounts Political Trials, Hails Adoke’s Courage and Jonathan’s Respect for Rule of Law

By Omeiza Ajayi

Vice President Kashim Shettima has revealed that he was the most demonized public figure during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, describing himself as “Public Enemy Number One” in the final years of the former administration.

Shettima made the revelation on Thursday in Abuja at the unveiling of a new book titled “OPL 245: The Inside Story of the $1.3 Billion Nigerian Oil Bloc”, written by Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), a former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice during the Jonathan administration.

Recalling tense moments from his time as Governor of Borno State, Shettima said that despite attempts to remove him from office, he admired how then-President Jonathan ultimately deferred to constitutional limits and upheld the rule of law—largely due to Adoke’s legal counsel.

“In the last four years of the Jonathan administration, I was the most demonized person. I was the public enemy number one,” Shettima said.

“At one point, President Jonathan was determined to remove ‘this Borno governor,’ as he repeatedly said. But at a closed-door meeting of national leaders, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, then Speaker of the House, told him plainly: ‘Your Excellency, you don’t have the powers to remove an elected councillor.’”

Shettima recounted that Adoke courageously reinforced this constitutional truth to the president, supported by fellow cabinet member and SAN, Kabiru Turaki. Their stance, he said, ended any plans for his removal.

“That was how my relationship with Mr. Adoke and Tambuwal became eternally sealed,” he said, praising Adoke’s conviction and loyalty to legal principles.

Shettima also commended Adoke for choosing to document his public service experience through the newly launched book, calling on Nigerian leaders to emulate this for posterity.

“Our public service is a territory governed by silence,” Shettima said. “There is silence to protect relationships, and silence for secrets too delicate to disclose. But as a generation of leaders, we must summon the courage to document our journeys.”

Adoke: “I Have Forgiven My Persecutors”

In his remarks, Mohammed Bello Adoke said the book was not written to smear anyone but to set the record straight, particularly regarding his alleged role in the controversial OPL 245 oil bloc deal.

Adoke explained that he was never a party to the transaction but merely implemented a presidential directive in 2011 to resolve lingering disputes over the oil bloc. He lamented the enormous public funds expended in what he termed his “malicious prosecution,” asserting that Nigerian taxpayers should never again be burdened with such politically motivated trials.

“While the Italian prosecutor who pursued this case unjustly was jailed for eight months, our own EFCC operatives who lied on oath were never held accountable,” Adoke noted.

Despite this, he revealed he had forgiven all those behind his ordeal, including former EFCC chairman Ibrahim Magu, who he said had since apologized to him.

The former AGF also claimed that former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration was driven by vengeance against the Abacha family, whom he was accused of shortchanging in the oil bloc deal.

“Buhari believed I was unfair to the Abachas. That perception, not facts, drove much of my prosecution,” he said.

The unveiling ceremony attracted legal luminaries, politicians, civil society members, and the media, marking a significant moment in the national conversation about transparency, governance, and the need for historical clarity.