Olarewaju in a statement also named onetime National Security Adviser, (NSA), Alhaji Ismaila Gwarzo, as being involved in commuting the death sentence.
Major-General Tajudeen Olarewaju (retd), former minister of communication, has revealed how late Maitama Sule prevented the death sentence passed on ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo and others by the regime of late Gen Sani Abacha.
According to the former minister, the trio had embarked on a diplomatic mission which resulted in the commuting of the death penalty to 25 years jail term by Abacha.
He said: “A Nigerian delegation led by the late Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Sule comprising myself and former NSA Gwarzo had gone on a diplomatic mission in Switzerland to meet with American delegation comprising Ambassador McHenry, then Assistant Secretary of State for Security Susan Rice and Assistant Secretary of State for Africa George Moose sent by then United States’ President Bill Clinton.
“The Maitama Sule-led Nigerian team demanded the release of the trio of General Olusegun Obasanjo, General Shehu Yar’Adua and Alhaji MKO Abiola.”
The former minister in reaction to Sule's death, said the late elder statesman will remain “evergreen in Nigeria and the global community” due to his contributions. In a previous report by NAIJ.com, thousands of sympathisers, including the chief of staff to the president, Malam Abba Kyari, on Tuesday, July 4 attended the funeral prayer for the late Dr Maitama Sule, the Dan masanin Kano. The late elder statesman died in the early hours of Monday, July 3 in Cairo, Egypt after a brief illness.
The remains of the late diplomat arrived at the Nigerian Air Force Base, Kano in an Air Force plane with registration number NAF 913. He was later buried at Kara Cemetery at Kofar Mazugal in Kano metropolis.
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