Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Babachir Lawal, has announced his retirement from politics.
Lawal made the announcement on Wednesday in a chat with journalists, a day after accusing the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) Atiku Abubakar, of rigging the party’s presidential primary.
The former SGF, who was removed from office by former President Muhammadu Buhari, had endorsed the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi in the 2023 election despite being a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Following the mass defections of Atiku, Obi, and other prominent politicians to the ADC ahead of the 2027 elections, Lawal joined the party, where he emerged as the party’s leader in the North-East.
However, at the conclusion of the party’s presidential primary a few weeks ago, the former SGF expressed outrage over the conduct of the election, accusing Atiku of orchestrating widespread rigging, which he described as undemocratic.
Atiku was declared the winner of the contest with 1,846,370 votes, while former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi and businessman Mohammed Hayatu-Deen came second and third with 504,117 and 177,120 votes respectively.
He said, “I am exiting the ADC because its just-concluded primaries were massively rigged at all levels in favour of Kachalla Abubakar Atiku.
“Results were simply written or rewritten to favour him and his coven. Even where they allowed some semblance of an election to hold, the winners were replaced with members of his syndicate. In the real sense, it was a disgraceful charade.”
Atiku however rejected the accusation arguing why Lawal has failed “to explain how the very same primary process he now dismisses as fraudulent somehow produced a result he appears perfectly willing to accept in Adamawa State, where his cousin, Omar Suleiman, emerged as the ADC governorship candidate.”
Although Lawal stated on Tuesday that he would spend time consulting with political associates on his next steps while continuing to oppose Atiku’s presidential ambition, he said on Wednesday that, “I have quit politics.”