Babachir Lawal, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), has announced his exit from the African Democratic Congress (ADC), citing massive irregularities in the party's presidential primary election. In a scathing statement posted on his verified Facebook page on Monday, June 1, Lawal accused former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of rigging the primary in his favor.
Lawal Alleges Massive Rigging
Atiku Abubakar emerged as the ADC presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections after defeating former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi and Mohammed Hayatu-Deen. Lawal, a former appointee of late President Muhammadu Buhari, claimed that Atiku and his allies engaged in electoral fraud and result manipulation. He predicted that Atiku would ultimately be out-rigged and beaten by what he described as President Bola Tinubu's superior political structure.
Lawal's statement read: "I am exiting the ADC because its 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 election to hold, the winners were simply replaced with members of his syndicate. In the real sense it was a disgraceful charade."
Lawal Slams Atiku and Tinubu
Lawal further stated: "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." Regarding his political future, he said he would be consulting with like-minded colleagues on how to stop the incompetent octogenarian from coming close to the presidential office. He added that he would retire to his village farm, from where he would watch 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.
Cracks within the ADC opposition platform give Tinubu a familiar edge. The veteran political dealmaker enjoys the advantages of incumbency and a deeply entrenched party machine. Nigeria has seen an incumbent president lose only once, in 2015, when Goodluck Jonathan conceded defeat to the late Buhari.
ADC's Bala Makes Fresh Demand
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Nafiu Bala-Gombe, a former deputy national chairman of the ADC, asked the chief judge of the Federal High Court for a change of the judge handling a matter involving his party. Bala-Gombe, who is laying claim to the party's chairmanship seat, sought a transfer of his suit from Judge Emeka Nwite to another judge to ensure judicial impartiality.
