FORMER President Goodluck Jonathan and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar on Sunday paid condolence visits to the family of late Afenifere Leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo.
During Jonathan’s visit, he explained why his administration did not implement the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference.
Mr Jonathan said that the political situation in Nigeria at the time was too turbulent to accommodate presentation of the recommendations.
This newspaper reports that Adebanjo died on Feb. 14, 2025, in Lagos.
He was aged 96.
Jonathan and Abubakar were received at different times by the children of the late elder statesman led by Obafemi Ayo-Adebanjo.
Members of the Pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, led by Oba Oladipo Olaitan, were also present during the visits.
Jonathan, accompanied by Sierra Leone’s ex-President Ernest Bai Koroma, former PDP Deputy National Chairman, Chief Olabode George, and other political stalwarts, arrived at Adebanjo’s Lekki residence at 1.57 p.m.
Abubakar, who arrived about 3.00 p.m. was also accompanied by some PDP chieftains, including Chief Dele Momodu and Dr Abdul-Azeez Adediran, the 2023 PDP Governorship Candidate for Lagos State.
At a meeting with the children of the deceased and members of Afenifere, Jonathan described Adebanjo as a Nigerian leader, not just an Afenifere leader.
Jonathan said: “Our dear leader was not the leader of Afenifere alone. He was a leader of this country.
“He was a man with enormous wisdom, courage and willingness to do the right thing for this country.
“He believed in truth and justice. No nation can grow when there is no truth and when there is no justice.
“Those were the things he was known for. We are not surprised that he led the Afenifere credibly well.”
Jonathan said that the 2014 National Conference would not have come up without the contributions of people such as the late Adebanjo.
“He meant the best for this country,” he added.
According to the former president, when a nation is not moving as expected, there is the need for a comprehensive dialogue.
He said that those who participated at the conference were credible.
Jonathan said, “I gave them total authority to discuss what is good for this country.”
He said that a number of people had kept asking why he did not implement the recommendations of the conference.
According to him, most Nigerians do not know that there was a lot of political turbulence in the country at that period.
He said that a key member of the legislature, who was in his party, mobilised against him and moved to another party.