‘Was ADC Primary only credible when your cousin won?’- Atiku fires back at Babachir

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s camp has fired back at former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, after he accused the African Democratic Congress presidential primary of being rigged in Atiku’s favour.

Lawal, who recently announced his resignation from the ADC, had claimed that the party’s primary was manipulated to produce Atiku as its presidential candidate.

But in a strongly worded response issued by Atiku’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former Vice President’s camp dismissed Lawal’s allegations as baseless, insisting that the primary reflected the will of party members across the country.

Shaibu said Lawal had failed to provide any evidence to support his claims of manipulation.

According to him, the ADC presidential primaries were conducted across thousands of wards nationwide and produced a clear result in Atiku’s favour.

He said Lawal had only made “grave allegations” without presenting documents, witnesses, verifiable facts or any credible proof.

“What Mr Lawal has offered Nigerians is not evidence. He has produced no documents, no verifiable facts, no credible witnesses, and no proof whatsoever to support his sensational allegations,” Shaibu said.

Atiku had emerged winner of the ADC presidential primary after polling 1,846,370 votes to defeat former Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, and businessman-politician Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, who scored 504,117 and 177,120 votes respectively.

Shaibu accused Lawal of attacking the process simply because the outcome did not favour his preferred candidate.

He said democracy gives politicians the right to contest, but does not guarantee victory.

“What appears to have truly unsettled Mr Lawal is not the conduct of the primaries but the outcome. Democracy guarantees participation, not victory,” he said.

The Atiku camp also questioned Lawal’s position, alleging that he appeared willing to accept results from the same primary process in Adamawa State, where his cousin, Omar Suleiman, emerged as the ADC governorship candidate.

Shaibu said Nigerians were entitled to ask why the process was only being condemned when it produced a presidential candidate Lawal did not support.

He said, “Mr Lawal has also failed to explain how the very same primary process he now dismisses as fraudulent somehow produced a result he appears perfectly willing to accept in Adamawa State, where his cousin, Omar Suleiman, emerged as the ADC governorship candidate.”

The statement also took aim at Lawal’s public image as a critic of corruption and electoral malpractice, recalling the controversy that led to his removal as SGF under the administration of the late President Muhammadu Buhari.

Lawal was removed from office in 2017 following allegations linked to contracts under the Presidential Initiative on the North-East, popularly known as the grass-cutting scandal. He has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

Shaibu said it was ironic that Lawal was now presenting himself as a defender of integrity and internal democracy.

He said Nigerians had not forgotten the controversy that surrounded his exit from government.

The Atiku camp further accused Lawal of resorting to ethnic and religious sentiments after failing to convince ADC members to back his preferred aspirant.

Shaibu said such politics would not solve Nigeria’s economic and security challenges.

He said rhetoric built around identity politics would create no jobs, reduce no food prices, secure no communities and offer no solution to the country’s problems.

Defending Atiku’s political record, Shaibu said the 2027 election would be decided by Nigerians based on governance, economic recovery, national security and unity, not post-primary bitterness.

He said Nigerians know Atiku’s record in public service, business and national politics.

According to him, Atiku remains focused on presenting solutions to the challenges facing the country.

“The 2027 election will not be decided by tantrums, ethnic dog whistles, recycled grievances, or revisionist history. It will be decided by the Nigerian people,” Shaibu said.

Lawal had earlier said he was leaving the ADC because the primary was allegedly manipulated in Atiku’s favour.

He also claimed that supporting Atiku would amount to giving President Bola Tinubu an easy path to a second term.

However, Atiku’s camp maintained that no amount of post-primary anger or allegations would change the outcome of the ADC presidential contest.