.Ex-VP dismisses Lawal’s claim, says his outburst is of a defeated person
CYRIL MBAH, Abuja with Agency report
Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, has resigned from the African Democratic Congress, ADC, alleging that the party’s recent presidential primary was manipulated in favour of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
Lawal announced his resignation in a statement shared on his official Facebook page on Monday, saying he could no longer remain in a party whose primary process he described as fundamentally flawed.
“I am exiting the ADC because its just concluded primaries were at all levels massively rigged in favour Kachalla Abubakar Atiku,” Lawal said.
The former SGF alleged that results were altered to favour Atiku and his supporters, adding that even in areas where voting was conducted, declared winners were allegedly replaced.
“Results were just written or rewritten to favour him and his coven. Even where they allowed some semblance of an election to hold, the winners were simply replaced with members of his syndicate. In the real sense it was a disgraceful charade,” he said.
Lawal said his decision to leave the party was also informed by his unwillingness to be associated with what he described as a political structure that could influence future elections.
His resignation comes amid lingering controversy over the ADC presidential primary held on May 25, 2026, which produced Atiku as the party’s presidential candidate.
Atiku was declared the winner of the contest with 1,846,370 votes, while former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi and businessman Mohammed Hayatu-Deen placed second and third with 504,117 and 177,120 votes respectively.
The primary had drawn criticism from some aspirants. Before the announcement of the results, Hayatu-Deen publicly distanced himself from the process, citing concerns about alleged vote manipulation and the integrity of the exercise.
Former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi also raised concerns about the conduct of the primary, alleging irregularities in the process.
However, following a recent visit from Atiku, Hayatu-Deen ruled out challenging the outcome of the primary, saying he had chosen party unity and the broader objective of building a credible opposition ahead of future elections over personal political ambition.
Lawal, meanwhile, said he would spend time consulting with political associates on his next steps while continuing to oppose Atiku’s presidential ambition.
Lawal stated that President Bola Tinubu would make a far better president than the former vice president.
Lawal added, “I am exiting the ADC because the just-concluded primaries were at all levels massively rigged in favour Kachalla Abubakar Atiku. I sense a conspiracy of silence of which i want no part of Most members of the party are behaving as if this is the normal thing to do. Results were just written or rewritten to favour him and his coven. Even where they allowed some semblance of an election to hold, the winners were simply replaced with members of his syndicate. In the real sense it was a disgraceful charade.
“I am doing so because I do not intend to be part of Kachalla Atiku’s rigging machine in the 2027 general elections and I cannot avoid doing so if I remain in the party. The man and his cabal are just irredentist Fulani and religious hegemonists. For me, working for Kachalla Atiku means giving Tinubu an automatic ticket to a second term which gives me nightmares.
“I believe Tinubu might, comparatively speaking, end up a better Nigerian president than Kachalla Atiku could ever be (as bad as Tinubu currently is and possibly could ever be). The choice in 2027 it seems will be a Morton’s fork.
Continuing, he noted, “I did not join the ADC to make Nigeria progressively worse so my beliefs and conscience won’t allow me to partner with the evil that Atiku and his people represent. For, with close to 25 adult children, 6 wives (past and present, some offshore) and a heavily shrunk decapitated business empire, I foresee 25 Seyi Tinubus and 6 Remi Tinubus; a prospect that has been keeping me awake all night with worry. And who knows which Chagouri’s might be lurking around the corner waiting for an Atiku bazaar?
“I would have thought that the Northerners who helped rig the primaries for a near-senile octogenarian they all know to be an incompetent, tribal and religious bigot would be the ones that should crave the most a good post-2027 governance seeing as Tinubu has driven its people to total destitution.
“I would have thought that when Northerners insist on a northern president they would be thinking of one that will stop the downward spiral into poverty and insecurity, not an ineptocrat like Kachalla Atiku. Alas, a leopard cannot change its spots. The North, it seems, is perpetually doomed to self-harm.
“While I will be tweaking my plans for the future and consulting with like-minded colleagues on how to stop this incompetent octogenerian from coming close to the presidential office, I will in the meantime retire to my village farm from where I will be watching Kachalla Atiku and his band of wicked vote riggers and result manipulators mercilessly out-rigged and beaten to pulp by Tinubu’s ruthless and superior rigging machine,” Lawal stated.
In a swift reaction, Atiku faulted Lawal’s claim over the presidential primaries, describing it as an emotionally charged outburst of a defeated person, which lacked concrete evidence.
Atiku said in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday that Babachi Lawal’s comments would ordinarily not merit a response.
He added however, that since Lawal maligned a democratic process, insulted thousands of ADC members nationwide, and made grave allegations without proof, a clarification has become necessary.
The statement noted the irony of Lawal presenting himself as a clean apostle of integrity and democratic virtue, recalling that he is mostly remembered for the infamous grass-cutting contract scandal worth millions of Naira that led to his removal from office as Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
The media office argued it was remarkable that a public official whose career became synonymous with conflict of interest, corruption and abuse of office now seeks to lecture Nigerians on electoral integrity.
Former Vice President said Lawal’s new posture amounted to political satire.
He stated that the ADC presidential primaries were conducted across thousands of wards nationwide and produced a clear, decisive outcome.
The office stressed that Lawal presented no documents, verifiable facts, credible witnesses, or any proof to support his sensational allegations of rigging and manipulation.
The statement also highlighted a contradiction in Lawal’s position.
While condemning electoral manipulation, he was said to have openly admired what he described as President Tinubu’s “superior rigging machine.” The office asked why rigging would be unacceptable in one instance but fascinating in another.
The statement further criticised Lawal’s resort to ethnic and religious prejudice after failing to persuade ADC members.
The media office said such rhetoric does not unite Nigeria, create jobs, lower food prices, or secure communities, but only exposes political desperation.
The office questioned Lawal’s consistency, noting that he dismissed the primaries as fraudulent yet appeared willing to accept results in Adamawa State where his cousin, Omar Suleiman, emerged as ADC governorship candidate.
It asked whether the process was credible only when it favoured his family and it also faulted Lawal’s attack on Atiku Abubakar’s family as unfortunate and irrelevant.
The statement said Nigerians are more concerned with hunger, school fees, collapsing businesses, and insecurity than with family size, and that these issues deserve focus ahead of 2027.
The media office concluded by stating that democracy guarantees participation, not victory, and that Atiku remains focused on solutions, national unity, prosperity, security and opportunity.
It said the 2027 election will be decided by Nigerians, not by post-primary bitterness or sensational allegations.
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