Atiku explains Babachir Lawal’s frustration

African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar has  accused for Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal of making serious allegations against the primary without providing evidence.

Lawal, had on Monday resigned from ADC, declaring that supporting the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, would amount to handing President Bola Tinubu a second term in office. Lawal left the party after accusing its leadership of manipulating the recently concluded primary in favour of Atiku, a development, he said, had convinced him that the ADC could no longer provide the leadership alternative he sought, ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

Reacting to Lawal’s allegations, Atiku, in a statement signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication Phrank Shaibu, said:  “What appears to have unsettled Mr. Lawal is not the conduct of the primaries but the outcome. Democracy guarantees participation, not victory. One cannot celebrate democracy when it produces a preferred result and condemn it when it does not,” Shaibu said.

He further accused Lawal of selectively accepting the outcome of ADC primaries, pointing to the emergence of Omar Suleiman, described as his cousin, as the party’s governorship candidate in Adamawa State.

Shaibu said: “Nigerians are entitled to ask whether the process was credible when it favoured his family and only became rigged when it produced a presidential candidate he did not support.

“If the primaries were truly illegitimate, intellectual honesty would require him to reject every outcome arising from that exercise. Instead, he has chosen selective outrage, embracing results that suit his interests while condemning those that do not.”

The Atiku’s camp maintained that the ADC presidential primary was conducted across thousands of wards nationwide and produced a clear outcome, insisting that Lawal had failed to provide evidence to support his allegations of manipulation.

“Mr. Lawal has presented no documents, no verifiable facts, no credible witnesses and no evidence whatsoever to support his allegations of manipulation,” Shaibu said.

He also accused the former SGF of taking contradictory positions on electoral integrity, saying “while condemning what he calls electoral manipulation, he simultaneously expresses admiration for what he describes as President Tinubu’s ‘superior rigging machine.’

‘’Nigerians are, therefore, entitled to ask a simple question: If rigging is unacceptable, why does he appear fascinated by it when he imagines it may favour his preferred political outcome?”

He also accused Lawal of resorting to ethnic and religious narratives after failing to secure support for his preferred candidate during the primary process.

“Having failed to persuade ADC members to embrace his preferred candidate, he now seeks refuge in ethnic and religious narratives. Such rhetoric offers no solutions to inflation, insecurity, unemployment or the rising cost of living confronting ordinary Nigerians,” Shaibu said.

Beyond the dispute over the primary, the Atiku’s camp faulted Lawal’s criticism of the former vice president’s family, describing it as unrelated to the issues confronting many Nigerians.

“What concerns ordinary citizens today is not how many children a politician has, but how many children are going to bed hungry. Parents are struggling to pay school fees. Businesses are collapsing. Entire communities are living under the shadow of insecurity,” he said.

Shaibu further defended Atiku’s political standing, saying the former vice president remained one of the country’s few politicians with broad national appeal.

He also referenced the controversy that preceded Lawal’s removal from office as Secretary to the Government of the Federation, arguing that it was ironic for him to present himself as an authority on accountability and electoral integrity.

Shaibu said:  “It is, therefore, remarkable that a public official whose tenure was dogged by questions of conflict of interest and abuse of office now seeks to lecture Nigerians on electoral integrity.

“The 2027 election will ultimately be decided by the Nigerian people, not by post-primary bitterness, personal attacks or revisionist narratives. No amount of outrage can alter that reality.”