By David Olalekan.
A former Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke has revealed in his book “Burden of Service” how alleged persecution from Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the acting Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Ibrahim Magu made him contemplate suicide.
Adoke, who left office in 2015 and has been on exile ever since, lamented that being unjustly maligned on the internet was unbearable, hence his desire to end his life.
“To wake up every day and see my name being unjustly maligned on the internet was no longer bearable. Being hunted for what I did not do felt like a death sentence on its own. It is time to force my exit from this world, I told myself.
“I walked to the terrace of my rented semi-detached maisonette in The Hague, The Netherlands. I looked down. Plunging a few metres seemed to offer an instant relief instead of waiting endlessly for my vindication.
“I would become totally blank to shame and sorrow within seconds. I would never have to worry about the lies and the persecution again.
“My blood would be on the hands of those who hounded me to my death. They would live the rest of their lives with a bleeding conscience, assuming that they had any such thing. Death, rather than life, seemed very attractive to me now”, he wrote.
Adoke retorted that on a second thought, “I decided to live and tell my story,” because no one would tell his own side of the story if he killed himself.
The former minister noted that some officials who served in former President Goodluck Jonathan’s cabinet with him, used his name and that of former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alinson-Madueke, to curry favour from President Muhammadu Buhari after the 2015 elections.
He also revealed that Prof. Osinbajo specifically instructed the acting EFCC chairman to ruthlessly deal with him.
“I was told an influential governor from the North-West geopolitical zone once asked Magu why he was after me so vindictively.
“Magu reportedly confessed to him that it was the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, that directed him to do so.
“He also advised the governor to tell me that I should go and sort out whatever issues I had with Osinbajo.
“On receiving that information, I recalled that one of Magu’s top aides had also voiced a similar sentiment to someone that the VP had given the marching orders to get Adoke at all costs.
“Still, I won’t blame the VP alone. Magu also had his own agenda. A senator asked him if he had any personal issues with me, and Magu replied that I owned half of the Centenary City in Abuja”, the former AGF stated.