Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, has claimed that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar did little to secure the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential ticket before emerging as the party’s candidate for the 2027 election.
Naijaonpoint reports that Lawal made the claim on Monday during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
The former SGF said party members had expected a competitive contest among the leading aspirants.
According to him, former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, appeared to be the most active among the contenders before the primary.
“Someone like Rotimi Amaechi was very confident that if we go to primaries he would win. Everybody around him was extremely confident that Amaechi would win,” Lawal said.
He added that Amaechi moved around and worked hard to secure support from party members.
Lawal contrasted Amaechi’s activities with Atiku’s approach, saying the former vice president appeared largely inactive before the primary.
“Then, we have Atiku Abubakar. That time we used to wonder what is he going to do to win the primary because he was practically not doing much,” he said.
“He was not talking, he was not campaigning, he wasn’t going out.”
Lawal recently resigned from the ADC after the presidential primary that produced Atiku as the party’s flag bearer.
He alleged irregularities in the exercise and accused Atiku’s camp of manipulating the process.
The former SGF has repeatedly insisted that the primary did not reflect the wishes of party members.
