Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, have traded accusations over the conduct of the party’s presidential primary election.
Atiku dismissed Lawal’s recent claims as unfounded and driven by political frustration, describing them as “a cocktail of bitterness, conjecture, and political revisionism masquerading as public interest.”
In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former Vice President said Nigerians who watched Lawal’s television interview were exposed to what he described as “a spectacle of allegations without evidence.”
Shaibu said Lawal failed to provide any verifiable proof to support his claims about irregularities in the ADC primary.
“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. No document. No petition. No result sheet. No witness statement. No recording. Nothing,” the statement read.
He added that the former SGF relied on unnamed sources and unverified claims throughout his remarks, insisting that the interview lacked factual substance.
“For a man who repeatedly insisted that proof was ‘everywhere,’ his performance was a masterclass in making extraordinary allegations without meeting the elementary obligation of substantiating them,” he said.
The statement further argued that Lawal’s intervention reflected disappointment over the outcome of the primary rather than genuine concern about electoral fairness.
It accused him of previously aligning with and campaigning for another aspirant who ultimately lost the contest, suggesting that his comments were driven by personal political disappointment.
“Having failed in that objective, he now seeks to dress personal disappointment in the borrowed robes of moral outrage,” the statement added.
Atiku’s camp also rejected Lawal’s attempt to question his influence in the process, insisting that the allegations were contradictory and politically motivated.
In his own response, Babachir Lawal maintained that the ADC primary was keenly contested and expressed admiration for the efforts of former Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi.
He said Amaechi was widely confident of victory and worked actively across the field ahead of the contest.
“Someone like Rotimi Amaechi was very confident that if we go to primaries he would win. Everybody around him was extremely confident that Amaechi would win,” Lawal said.
He added that Amaechi was visibly active during the campaign period, unlike Atiku Abubakar, whom he described as less visible during the build-up to the primary.
“Then, we have Atiku Abubakar. That time we used to wonder what he is going to do to win the primary because he was practically not doing much. He was not talking, he was not campaigning, he wasn’t going out,” he said.
Lawal said party stakeholders closely monitored the strategies of all major aspirants, questioning how Atiku eventually secured the ticket despite what he perceived as a low-profile campaign approach.
The exchange highlights growing post-primary tensions within the ADC as key political actors continue to disagree over the conduct and outcome of the contest.
