Atiku accuses Babachir Lawal of making baseless claims over ADC primary

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has rejected allegations by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, that the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential primary was manipulated in his favour.

In a statement released on Tuesday by his media aide, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said Lawal had failed to provide any evidence to support the claims, describing the allegations as speculation without evidence and “an unfortunate cocktail of bitterness, conjecture, and political revisionism masquerading as public interest.”

“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,” the statement said.

“No document. No petition. No result sheet. No witness statement. No recording. Nothing.”

The ADC presidential candidate argued that Lawal’s comments were driven by disappointment after his preferred candidate lost the primary.

“What the interview ultimately revealed was not a whistleblower exposing wrongdoing but a disappointed political actor struggling to come to terms with the failure of his preferred candidate,” Atiku said.

He added that Lawal had openly supported another aspirant before the primary and was now trying to present his disappointment as a moral concern.

Atiku also dismissed claims that he influenced the outcome of the primary across the country, saying it was unrealistic to suggest he controlled the votes of thousands of party members nationwide.

He further criticised Lawal’s recent remark that he could easily obtain financial assistance from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu if needed.

“More revealing, however, was Mr Lawal’s astonishing confession on national television that if he ever needed money, all he had to do was call President Tinubu and the money would reach him before he got home,” Atiku said.

He said Nigerians have heard and seen him, and they can draw their own conclusions from the implications of such a remarkable declaration.