How Jonathan conceded defeat, by Adoke

Former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN) yesterday said he never at any time discouraged  ex-President Goodluck Jonathan from conceding victory to President Muhammdu Buhari in 2015.

He said he, the ex-Minister of Finance, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the ex-Minister of Aviation, Mr. Osita Chidoka and the former Special Assistant on Domestic Affairs to the ex-President, Waripamo Owei-Dudafa, actually prevailed on Jonathan to accept defeat.

He said having been at the vanguard of protecting Nigeria’s democracy and the Rule of Law as an Attorney-General of the Federation, he could not have stooped low to ask Jonathan to reject the outcome of the 2015 presidential election.

But Adoke noted that some hawks in the administration actually wanted Jonathan to refuse to accept the results but he, the two ex-Ministers and Dudafa encouraged Jonathan to congratulate Buhari.

He said:  ”As a patriot, I could not have advised him not to concede defeat. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Osita Chidoka, I and Waripamowei-Dudafa are the real heroes of that historic concession as we ensured that despite pressures from the hawks within the administration, the President conceded defeat by calling President Buhari as at the time he did.

“We are the real heroes of the concession by Jonathan. We were the ones who made the former President to make the concession call to President Muhammadu Buhari.

“We are not saboteurs, we are patriots. We actually asked Jonathan to concede. I have impeccable democratic credentials; no one can spoil my records.”

“I expect that Jonathan will clear the air on the issue as he knows the truth. However, my forthcoming book will address the issue most comprehensively.”

Another source gave an insight into the last-minute intrigues that preceded Jonathan’s acceptance of defeat.

The source said: “It is unfair characterization to claim that Adoke, Okonjo-Iweala, Chidoka and Dudafa did not want Jonathan to accept the outcome of the 2015 presidential poll.

“When the results were trickling in and it was obvious that Jonathan was losing, Chidoka was actually mandated to go and draft the acceptance speech for Jonathan. How can someone who was part of the decision to make concession be assumed to be opposed to it.

“After drafting the concession speech, Chidoka put a call to Okonjo-Iweala, Adoke for the vetting of the text. Of course, Dudafa has always been insisting on conceding defeat.

ICYMI: Jonathan: I was pressed to reject 2015 election result

“It was Dudafa, who actually put a call to President Buhari and handed over the phone to Jonathan to speak with the President who was the winner.

“I am aware that Adoke insisted that Jonathan must congratulate Buhari before the announcement of the results. He kept on saying: ‘Mr. President, put yourself on the positive side of history, be a statesman and earn international respect for life’.

“The presence of Adoke, Okonjo-Iweala, Chidoka and Dudafa assisted the President in making his decision to concede defeat.”

A former government official attributed Jonathan’s concession to “personal factor”.

He said: “President Jonathan had already given his words to all the security and service chiefs before the election that he would abide by the decision of Nigerians. At the meeting, he also told them to perform their duties professionally during the polls.

“While we anticipated that he would congratulate his opponent if the result was announced in favour of the opposition candidate, he gratuitously, without the prompting of anyone, conceded defeat  – to the surprise of all.

“By that singular gesture, he had saved the security agencies and the nation of unnecessary tension and stress in maintaining law and order and curtailing excesses of likely protesters.”