The ADC presidential candidate said Sunday that Lawal’s recent criticism crossed a line into ethnic profiling. Atiku, speaking through aide Phrank Shaibu, argued that Nigeria’s 2027 debate should be about policies and leadership, not ancestry or conspiracy theories.
The rift started after Lawal quit the ADC, claiming Atiku and allies rigged the party primaries. He also questioned Atiku’s fitness for office and told the party to pick a new candidate. Lawal later doubled down, saying Nigerians must vet anyone seeking power.
Atiku’s main objection: Lawal linked an entire ethnic group to crimes committed by a few. “It’s dangerous to judge Nigerians by their ancestry,” the statement said. Atiku warned that logic would have Nigerians blaming whole communities for individual acts.
He also called out what he saw as hypocrisy. Lawal served as SGF under a Fulani president without complaint, Atiku noted, so “why stigmatize a whole ethnic group now that another Fulani man is running democratically?”
Atiku dismissed Lawal’s claim that he’s silent on insecurity. He said he’s condemned terrorism, banditry and kidnapping consistently, regardless of who the victims are. As proof, he pointed to scholarships his American University of Nigeria gave to freed Chibok girls.
“Babachir sees tribe. I see Nigerians,” Atiku said. “Nigeria needs leaders who unite and build, not ones driven by resentment about the past.”
