Fresh cracks have emerged within the African Democratic Congress (ADC) after former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, announced his exit from the party, accusing its leadership of manipulating primary election results to hand victory to Atiku Abubakar and his allies.
Lawal, in a lengthy statement posted on social media, alleged that the party’s recently concluded primaries were “massively rigged” at all levels in favour of Atiku, claiming that party officials ignored what he described as widespread irregularities.
“I am exiting the ADC because its just concluded primaries were at all levels massively rigged in favour of Kachalla Abubakar Atiku,” Lawal wrote.
He further alleged that in several instances, election results were altered to benefit candidates aligned with the former vice president.
“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,” he said.
Describing the exercise as a “disgraceful charade,” the former SGF said he could no longer remain in a party whose actions, according to him, contradicted democratic principles.
Lawal said his decision was also informed by concerns about the role he believed the party could play in the 2027 general elections.
“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 stated.
The former SGF launched a blistering attack on Atiku and his political associates, accusing them of pursuing ethnic and religious interests rather than national development.
“I did not join the ADC to make Nigeria progressively worse, so my beliefs and conscience won’t allow me partner with the evil that Atiku and his people represent,” he said.
In one of the most striking portions of his statement, Lawal suggested that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu could ultimately prove a better leader than Atiku despite his reservations about the current administration.
“I believe Tinubu might, comparatively speaking, end up a better Nigerian president than Kachalla Atiku could ever be,” he wrote.
Lawal also expressed pessimism about Atiku’s electoral prospects, predicting that the former vice president would be defeated if he eventually emerged as a major contender in the 2027 presidential race.
“While I will be 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,” he said.
The former SGF’s departure is expected to intensify debates within the ADC and the wider opposition coalition as political realignments ahead of the 2027 elections continue to gather momentum.
As of the time of filing this report, neither the ADC leadership nor Atiku’s camp had officially responded to Lawal’s allegations.
