Vice President Kashim Shettima has said he was the “most demonised” person under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
He said the then president mooted the idea of removing him as Borno State governor but the then Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke, stopped the idea.
Shettima spoke yesterday in Abuja at the public presentation of Adoke’s memoir. The book has its title as: ‘OPL 245: Inside Story of the $1.3 billion Nigerian oil block’.
The former Borno governor said Adoke was brave enough to tell Jonathan that he had no constitutional power to remove even an elected councillor let alone an elected governor.
Shettima was governor of the insurgent-ridden northeast state from May 2011 to May 2019. At the peak of the insurgency, on December 31, 2011, Jonathan declared a state of emergency in some local governments in Borno and Plateau states.
Some 18 months later, on May 14, 2013, Jonathan declared a state of emergency for the entire terrorist-plagued states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa but he did not suspend any of the governors.
Shettima also urged public officials to summon courage to document their life and stewardship in service while calling for transparency in public service.
He noted that public servants live under perpetual scrutiny describing life itself is a litigation with no end and no final adjournment in the pursuit of justice.
Recalling the highly litigious (Oil Prospecting Licence 245) OPL 245 deal, Shettima said the book served as an access card to the next phase of hearings in the court of public opinion, just as he emphasised that public service must be remembered, scrutinised, and preserved as part of national history.
The Vice President emphasised the need for public officials to see themselves as custodians of national memory, stressing that the importance of storytelling was not in perfection, but in the necessity of preserving the truth for future generations.
Earlier, Chairman of the occasion, former President Goodluck Jonathan, applauded the author’s wisdom, courage and doggedness in the face of intimidation, and blackmail, describing the public presentation of the book as a celebration of victory over deliberate persecution.
Represented by former Senate President, Sen. Anyim Pius Anyim, the former President cautioned politicians against recklessness and abuse of office, urging all public office holders to always commit to the virtues of justice, fairness and service to humanity.
On his part, Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, commended the commitment and hard work of the author in chronicling his account of stewardship as Attorney General of the Federation.
The author of the book, and former Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Adoke (SAN), said the motivation behind writing the book was not to denigrate any individual or group, but to set the records straight and provide insights into the issues surrounding the $1.3 billion Nigerian Oil Bloc transaction.
He said while he has forgiven the individuals and organisations that played active roles in the saga that caused significant damage to his person, family and business, he remained unwavering in his belief and commitment to the Nigerian project and its success. Adoke called for holistic reforms in the Nigerian justice and public service systems to forestall a recurrence of his unfortunate experience.
While reviewing the book, former Special Adviser to exPresident Jonathan on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, agreed with the author that the book is, indeed, therapeutic, stressing that the book actually needed to be written to set the records straight for posterity.
