The Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, has announced his resignation from the African Democratic Congress (ADC), alleging that the party’s recently concluded primary elections were manipulated in favour of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
In a statement released on Monday, Lawal said his decision to leave the party was informed by what he described as widespread irregularities during the primaries. According to him, the outcomes of the elections were predetermined and influenced to benefit Atiku and his supporters.
He alleged that the party’s internal processes were compromised, claiming that in some instances, election results were altered and winners replaced with candidates preferred by a particular group within the party.
Lawal expressed disappointment over what he described as the state of affairs within the ADC, saying he could not remain in a political environment that, in his view, tolerates unfair practices.
He stated that remaining in the party would amount to endorsing a structure capable of deploying similar tactics ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The former SGF also said his personal convictions and political principles no longer aligned with the direction of the party. He noted that he joined the ADC with the intention of contributing to national development but had become concerned about what he sees as a decline in internal democracy within the party.
Lawal said he would take time to reassess his political future and consult with like-minded individuals on the next steps. He added that he intends to focus on personal activities, including farming in his home community, while keeping an eye on political developments ahead of the next general elections.
The statement partly reads, “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 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 election to hold, the winners were simply replaced with members of his syndicate. In the real sense it was a disgraceful charade.
“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. The man and his cabal are just irredentist Fulani and religious hegemonists. 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 (as bad as Tinubu currently is and possibly could ever be).
