Babachir, Atiku In War Of Words Over ADC Presidential Primaries
*Primaries Rigged In Favour Of “Kachalla” Atiku Abubakar — Babachir
* A Man At Centre Of ‘Grass-cutting’ Scandal Can’t Reinvent Himself As Apostle Of Integrity – Atiku
By Akanni Toba
From all indications, the last has not been heard of the recently conducted presidential primary elections by the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
The exercise, which took place took place simultaneously in different venues across all the states of the Federation, produced former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar as the party’s presidential standard bearer for the 2027 election.
However, two days after the event, former secretary to the Federal Government overnment, Babachir Lawal, has registered his disproval of the outcome of the election.
Lawal’s reaction to the party’s primaries has caused a war of words between him and Atiku.
The ex-secretary to the Federal Government fired the first salvo by describing Atiku as “Kachalla” a derogatory Hausa word meaning, “bandit leader”.
According to the ex-scribe to the federal government, Atiku influenced the outcome of the ADC’s party primaries.
While citing the irregularities that marred the primaries, Lawal announced his resignation from the party on Monday.
“I am exiting the ADC because its just concluded primaries were at all levels massively rigged in favour of Kachalla Abubakar Atiku.
“Results were just written or rewritten to favour him and his coven. Even where they allowed some semblance of an election to be held, the winners were simply replaced with members of his syndicate. In the real sense, it was a disgraceful charade,” Lawal said in a statement posted on his social media platforms.
The ex-SGF said the silence which greeted the primaries prompted him to speak and set the record straight.
“I sense a conspiracy of silence of which I want no part. Most members of the party are behaving as if this is the normal thing to do,” the statement further read.
He vowed not to be part of any rigging plan in the 2027 elections, adding that working for Atiku is the same as “giving Tinubu an automatic ticket to a second term, which gives me nightmares.”
Meanwhile, in a swift response to Lawal’s remarks, Atiku’s camp accused the ex-SGF of attempting to malign both the party and its members without evidence.
In a statement issued on Monday, the ex-VP’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, rejected claims that the ADC primary election was manipulated, insisting that the exercise reflected the will of party members across the country.
“Having chosen to malign a democratic process, insult thousands of ADC members nationwide, and make grave allegations without presenting a shred of evidence, it has become necessary to set the record straight,” the statement said.
It added, “The truth is straightforward. The ADC presidential primaries were conducted across thousands of wards and produced a clear and decisive outcome.
“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,”
The Atiku camp also accused the former SGF of political inconsistency, pointing to what it described as his acceptance of outcomes from the same primary process in other contests.
“Mr Lawal has also failed to explain how the very same primary process he now dismissed 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.
“Nigerians are entitled to ask whether the process was only credible when it favoured his family and only rigged when it produced a presidential candidate he did not support,” the statement added.
It further took aim at Lawal’s public image as a critic of corruption and electoral malpractice, reviving controversies that trailed his tenure as SGF during the administration of the late President Muhammadu Buhari.
“It is perhaps the greatest irony of this entire episode that Mr Babachir Lawal now seeks to reinvent himself as Nigeria’s newest apostle of integrity, transparency, and democratic virtue.
“Nigerians may forgive many things, but they seldom forget history. Mr Lawal is not remembered for any celebrated crusade for accountability.
“Rather, he remains one of the most prominent public officials ever removed from office under the cloud of the infamous grass-cutting contract scandal,” the statement added.
Recall that Lawal was removed from office in 2017 following allegations linked to contracts awarded through the Presidential Initiative on the North-East, a controversy that became widely known as the “grass-cutting scandal.”
Though the allegation hangs around his neck like an albatross, Lawal has consistently denied wrongdoing.
Atiku’s camp, however, described Lawal’s stance as anti-democratic, stressing that the former SGF is aggrieved because his preferred candidate did not emerge as the winner of the primaries.
“What appears to have truly 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 suddenly condemn it as rigged when it does not,” it said.
The statement also faulted what it described as Lawal’s resort to ethnic and religious sentiments in his criticisms of the primary.
“Having failed to persuade ADC members to embrace his preferred candidate, he now seeks refuge in the divisive politics of identity,” Shaibu said.
Atiku had last week polled a total of 1,846,370 votes to beat former Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi and businessman-politician Mohammed Hayatu-Deen to the ADC presidential ticket, with the duo garnering 504,117 and 177,120 votes respectively.
Lawal, until recently, was a chieftain of the ADC and a key opposition figure in the broad coalition against President Bola Tinubu in 2027.
Babachir, Atiku In War Of Words Over ADC Presidential Primary Elections
*Primaries Rigged In Favour Of “Kachalla” Atiku Abubakar — Babachir
* A Man At Centre Of ‘Grass-cutting’ Scandal Can’t Reinvent Himself As Apostle Of Integrity – Atiku
By Akanni Toba
From all indications, the last has not been heard of the recently conducted presidential primary elections by the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
The exercise, which took place took place simultaneously in different venues across all the states of the Federation, produced former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar as the party’s presidential standard bearer for the 2027 election.
However, two days after the event, former secretary to the Federal Government overnment, Babachir Lawal, has registered his disproval of the outcome of the election.
Lawal’s reaction to the party’s primaries has caused a war of words between him and Atiku.
The ex-secretary to the Federal Government fired the first salvo by describing Atiku as “Kachalla” a derogatory Hausa word meaning, “bandit leader”.
According to the ex-scribe to the federal government, Atiku influenced the outcome of the ADC’s party primaries.
While citing the irregularities that marred the primaries, Lawal announced his resignation from the party on Monday.
“I am exiting the ADC because its just concluded primaries were at all levels massively rigged in favour of Kachalla Abubakar Atiku.
“Results were just written or rewritten to favour him and his coven. Even where they allowed some semblance of an election to be held, the winners were simply replaced with members of his syndicate. In the real sense, it was a disgraceful charade,” Lawal said in a statement posted on his social media platforms.
The ex-SGF said the silence which greeted the primaries prompted him to speak and set the record straight.
“I sense a conspiracy of silence of which I want no part. Most members of the party are behaving as if this is the normal thing to do,” the statement further read.
He vowed not to be part of any rigging plan in the 2027 elections, adding that working for Atiku is the same as “giving Tinubu an automatic ticket to a second term, which gives me nightmares.”
Meanwhile, in a swift response to Lawal’s remarks, Atiku’s camp accused the ex-SGF of attempting to malign both the party and its members without evidence.
In a statement issued on Monday, the ex-VP’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, rejected claims that the ADC primary election was manipulated, insisting that the exercise reflected the will of party members across the country.
“Having chosen to malign a democratic process, insult thousands of ADC members nationwide, and make grave allegations without presenting a shred of evidence, it has become necessary to set the record straight,” the statement said.
It added, “The truth is straightforward. The ADC presidential primaries were conducted across thousands of wards and produced a clear and decisive outcome.
“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,”
The Atiku camp also accused the former SGF of political inconsistency, pointing to what it described as his acceptance of outcomes from the same primary process in other contests.
“Mr Lawal has also failed to explain how the very same primary process he now dismissed 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.
“Nigerians are entitled to ask whether the process was only credible when it favoured his family and only rigged when it produced a presidential candidate he did not support,” the statement added.
It further took aim at Lawal’s public image as a critic of corruption and electoral malpractice, reviving controversies that trailed his tenure as SGF during the administration of the late President Muhammadu Buhari.
“It is perhaps the greatest irony of this entire episode that Mr Babachir Lawal now seeks to reinvent himself as Nigeria’s newest apostle of integrity, transparency, and democratic virtue.
“Nigerians may forgive many things, but they seldom forget history. Mr Lawal is not remembered for any celebrated crusade for accountability.
“Rather, he remains one of the most prominent public officials ever removed from office under the cloud of the infamous grass-cutting contract scandal,” the statement added.
Recall that Lawal was removed from office in 2017 following allegations linked to contracts awarded through the Presidential Initiative on the North-East, a controversy that became widely known as the “grass-cutting scandal.”
Though the allegation hangs around his neck like an albatross, Lawal has consistently denied wrongdoing.
Atiku’s camp, however, described Lawal’s stance as anti-democratic, stressing that the former SGF is aggrieved because his preferred candidate did not emerge as the winner of the primaries.
“What appears to have truly 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 suddenly condemn it as rigged when it does not,” it said.
The statement also faulted what it described as Lawal’s resort to ethnic and religious sentiments in his criticisms of the primary.
“Having failed to persuade ADC members to embrace his preferred candidate, he now seeks refuge in the divisive politics of identity,” Shaibu said.
Atiku had last week polled a total of 1,846,370 votes to beat former Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi and businessman-politician Mohammed Hayatu-Deen to the ADC presidential ticket, with the duo garnering 504,117 and 177,120 votes respectively.
Lawal, until recently, was a chieftain of the ADC and a key opposition figure in the broad coalition against President Bola Tinubu in 2027.
