Politics
ADC leaders’ feud takes new dimension
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has dismissed allegations by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, over the conduct of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential primary, describing the claims as “a mix of bitterness, speculation and political revisionism masquerading as public interest.”
In a statement issued on Tuesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said Lawal failed to provide evidence to substantiate the allegations he made during a recent television interview.
Shaibu said viewers who watched the interview saw “a man armed with outrage but bereft of evidence; rich in allegations but poor in facts.”
He noted that the statement would serve as Atiku’s final response to the controversy.
According to the statement, Lawal spent nearly an hour making what it described as serious accusations about the ADC presidential primary without presenting any verifiable proof.
“Mr. Lawal spent nearly an hour making grave accusations about the conduct of the ADC presidential primary. Yet he failed to produce a single piece of verifiable evidence. No document. No petition. No result sheet. No witness statement. No recording. Nothing,” the statement read.
It added, “For a man who repeatedly insisted that proof was ‘everywhere,’ his performance was a masterclass in making extraordinary allegations without meeting the elementary obligation of substantiating them.
“He arrived with accusations. He left with accusations. In between, the evidence never arrived.”
Atiku’s camp further argued that Lawal’s comments reflected the disappointment of a political figure struggling to accept the defeat of his preferred candidate in the party’s primary election.
The statement alleged that Lawal had openly backed another aspirant before the conclusion of the primary process, campaigned on behalf of the candidate and publicly expressed confidence that the aspirant would emerge victorious.
Shaibu also accused Lawal of contradicting himself by portraying Atiku as politically irrelevant while simultaneously suggesting that he possessed enough influence to manipulate the outcome of the primary across the country.
“According to his own account, Atiku was inactive, unpopular, and absent from the field. Yet Nigerians are simultaneously expected to believe that this same supposedly dormant politician somehow orchestrated a nationwide conspiracy across 8,809 wards,” the statement said.
“Such arguments are not merely implausible; they are insulting to the intelligence of party members whose democratic choices he now seeks to invalidate simply because they did not favour his preferred candidate.”
The statement further described Lawal as “a political mercenary,” accusing him of promoting narratives intended to weaken Atiku’s support among Christian communities in the Middle Belt and other regions where the former vice president enjoys significant goodwill.
Responding to Lawal’s alleged assertion that Atiku had “absolutely nothing” to offer Nigerians, Shaibu said the remark stemmed from personal animosity. He cited Atiku’s contributions to the liberalisation of Nigeria’s telecommunications sector, economic reforms, private sector development and educational initiatives as evidence of his impact on national development.
“As far as we are concerned, this is the final response to Mr. Lawal’s increasingly desperate attempts to remain politically relevant through sensationalism and character assassination. Nigerians have heard him. Nigerians have seen him. And Nigerians have judged for themselves,” the statement added.
“The facts remain unchanged. The truth remains intact. And no amount of bitterness can alter either.”