Atiku Abubakar’s team has pushed back hard against Babachir Lawal after the ex-SGF questioned the ADC presidential primary that picked Atiku as the party’s 2027 candidate.
In a statement Sunday, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, called Lawal’s allegations baseless. He said Lawal failed to provide any documents, witnesses, or proof to back claims of irregularities in the ward-level primaries that produced what the camp called a “clear and decisive outcome.”
Shaibu accused Lawal of criticizing the result only because his side lost. He then turned the spotlight on Lawal’s own record, reviving the “grass-cutting scandal” that led to Lawal’s removal as Secretary to the Government of the Federation under Buhari. “It is perhaps the greatest irony… that Mr. Lawal now seeks to reinvent himself as an apostle of integrity,” Shaibu said.
The Atiku camp also faulted Lawal for what it called contradictory positions, praising President Tinubu’s political tactics while condemning electoral malpractice. Shaibu added that Lawal was wrong to bring ethnicity and religion into the debate when Nigerians are more focused on the economy, insecurity, and jobs.
Another point: Shaibu questioned why Lawal accepted Omar Suleiman’s win in the ADC Adamawa governorship primary but rejected the presidential primary, even though both used the same process. “If the primaries were fundamentally flawed, intellectual honesty would require rejecting all outcomes,” the statement said.
Shaibu closed by defending Atiku as a national figure with cross-regional support, saying the 2027 election will be decided by voters, not post-primary grievances.
