June 9, 2026 6:49 pm
Atiku Abubakar
Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has dismissed allegations by Babachir Lawal, former secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), over the party’s presidential primary, describing them as “speculation without evidence”.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by Phrank Shaibu, his senior special assistant on public communication, Atiku said Lawal failed to provide any proof to support claims that the ADC primary was manipulated in his favour.
The former vice-president described the allegations as “an unfortunate cocktail of bitterness, conjecture, and political revisionism masquerading as public interest”.
According to Atiku, Lawal’s recent television interview, where he made the allegation, was built on accusations rather than verifiable facts.
“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,” the statement reads.
“No document. No petition. No result sheet. No witness statement. No recording. Nothing.
‘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 arrived with accusations. He left with accusations. In between, the evidence never arrived.”
‘LAWAL SPEAKING FROM DISAPPOINTMENT’Atiku said the former SGF relied on unnamed sources and unverified claims throughout the interview.He argued that Lawal’s criticism stemmed from disappointment over the outcome of the ADC primary.
“What the interview ultimately revealed was not a whistleblower exposing wrongdoing but a disappointed political actor struggling to come to terms with the failure of his preferred candidate,” he said.
“By his own admission, Mr. Lawal openly aligned himself with another aspirant long before the conclusion of the process.
“He campaigned for that candidate, promoted that candidate, and publicly believed that candidate should emerge victorious.
“Having failed in that objective, he now seeks to dress personal disappointment in the borrowed robes of moral outrage.”
Atiku also faulted Lawal’s allegation that he orchestrated the outcome of the primary nationwide.
“Perhaps the most laughable contradiction in Mr. Lawal’s performance was his attempt to portray Atiku Abubakar as both politically irrelevant and politically omnipotent at the same time,” he said.
“According to his own account, Atiku was inactive, unpopular, and absent from the field.
“Yet Nigerians are simultaneously expected to believe that this same supposedly dormant politician somehow orchestrated a nationwide conspiracy across 8,809 wards.”
The former vice-president said Lawal’s claims underestimated the judgement of ADC members who participated in the primary process.
“What makes this theory particularly absurd is that it requires Nigerians to believe that thousands of ADC members across the federation abandoned their own judgment and surrendered their votes to an invisible conspiracy,” he said.
“Such arguments are not merely implausible; they are insulting to the intelligence of party members whose democratic choices he now seeks to invalidate simply because they did not favour his preferred candidate.”
Atiku also referenced Lawal’s recent comment that he could easily obtain financial assistance from President Bola Tinubu if the need arose.
“More revealing, however, was Mr Lawal’s astonishing confession on national television that if he ever needed money, all he had to do was call President Tinubu and the money would reach him before he got home,” he said.
Nigerians heard him. Nigerians understood him. And Nigerians can draw their own conclusions from the implications of such a remarkable declaration.”
BACKGROUND
The latest exchange follows Lawal’s resignation from the ADC after alleging that the party’s presidential primary was manipulated in favour of Atiku and his associates.
The former SGF claimed the exercise was rigged at multiple levels and questioned Atiku’s suitability for the presidency.
On Sunday, Atiku accused Lawal of ethnic profiling and warned against attempts to reduce political discourse to ethnic considerations.
ADC PRECEDENTIAL PRIMARY ATIKU ABUBAKAR BABACHIR LAWAL PHRANK SHAIBU
