‘You’ve Destroyed Atiku’ — Presidency Reacts As Babachir Bombs Ex-VP

Presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, has reacted to a scathing attack by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, against the 2027 presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

According to Onanuga, Lawal has inflicted more damage on the former vice president than any criticism from the presidency.

Lawal, in a Facebook post on Monday, announced his exit from the ADC over the outcome of the party’s presidential primary won by Atiku.

“We have not fired any bullet against veteran presidential runner and northern hegemonic Abubakar Atiku yet. But a close ally just destroyed Atiku in many unflattering words. It’s a warning that the man should retire to Dubai quickly,” Onanuga wrote.

Lawal, in the lengthy Facebook post, claimed that ADC’s presidential primary was manipulated in favour of Atiku.

“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,” Lawal wrote.

“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 an election to hold, the winners were simply replaced with members of his syndicate. In the real sense, it was a disgraceful charade.”

Lawal said he could not remain in the party because he did not want to be associated with Atiku’s “rigging machine” ahead of the 2027 general election.

“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,” he said.

The former SGF further described Atiku as an “irredentist Fulani and religious hegemonist” and argued that President Bola Tinubu would perform better than Atiku if faced with a choice between the two.

“For me, working for Kachalla Atiku means giving Tinubu an automatic ticket to a second term, which gives me nightmares. I believe Tinubu might, comparatively speaking, end up a better Nigerian president than Kachalla Atiku could ever be,” he wrote.

Lawal also accused northern politicians of backing “a near-senile octogenarian” and vowed to work with like-minded associates to stop Atiku’s presidential ambition.

“While I will be tweaking my plans for the future and consulting with like-minded colleagues on how to stop this incompetent octogenarian from coming close to the presidential office, I will, in the meantime, retire to my village farm from where I will be watching Kachalla 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.”

The former SGF’s criticism comes days after Atiku polled 1,846,370 votes to defeat former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, who secured 504,117 votes, and Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, who received 177,120 votes.

The Chairman of the Presidential Primary Election Committee, Chief Ikechi Emenike, said 2,527,977 registered party members participated in the exercise.

The Chief Returning Officer, Senator Tunde Ogbeha, declared Atiku as the winner of the nationwide primary.

In his acceptance speech, Atiku described the exercise as transparent and credible. According to him, party members were allowed to freely express opinions and contest elective positions through a transparent democratic process.

Atiku said the primary was not about winners and losers but a collective effort to rescue Nigeria from misrule.

“There are no winners and losers. Our people look up to us for leadership, and we are ready to lead,” he said.

He also appealed to aggrieved members and fellow contestants, including Amaechi and Hayatu-Deen, to unite ahead of the 2027 general election.