The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has dismissed allegations by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, that the party’s recent presidential primary was rigged in his favour.
In a statement issued on Monday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku described Lawal’s claims as baseless and lacking credible evidence.
The former vice president’s media office said it was responding to what it described as a “lengthy and emotionally charged outburst” by the former SGF following the outcome of the ADC presidential primary.
According to the statement, Lawal failed to provide any documents, witnesses, or verifiable facts to support his allegations of electoral manipulation.
“The ADC presidential primaries were conducted across thousands of wards and produced a clear and decisive outcome. What Mr. Lawal has offered Nigerians is not evidence. He has produced no documents, no verifiable facts, no credible witnesses, and no proof whatsoever to support his sensational allegations,” the statement said.
Atiku’s camp also questioned Lawal’s moral authority to speak on issues of integrity and accountability, referencing the circumstances surrounding his removal from office as SGF during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
“It is perhaps the greatest irony of this entire episode that Mr. Babachir Lawal now seeks to reinvent himself as Nigeria’s newest apostle of integrity, transparency, and democratic virtue,” the statement added.
The media office further accused Lawal of adopting a selective approach to the outcome of the ADC primary, noting that while he rejected the presidential result, he had not questioned the emergence of his cousin, Omar Suleiman, as the party’s governorship candidate in Adamawa State through the same process.
The statement argued that if the primary was truly flawed, consistency would require the rejection of all outcomes arising from the exercise.
Atiku’s team also faulted Lawal for comments it described as divisive and personal, insisting that the focus should remain on addressing Nigeria’s economic and security challenges rather than political grievances.
The former vice president’s camp maintained that Atiku’s popularity and national appeal were responsible for his victory, stressing that democratic contests guarantee participation, not victory.
“What appears to have truly unsettled Mr. Lawal is not the conduct of the primaries but the outcome. Democracy guarantees participation, not victory,” the statement said.
The response follows Lawal’s resignation from the ADC, during which he alleged that the party’s presidential primary was manipulated to favour Atiku and warned that he could not remain part of what he described as a “rigging machine.”
Atiku was declared winner of the ADC presidential primary after polling 1,846,370 votes to defeat former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, who secured 504,117 votes. Businessman Mohammed Hayatu-Deen came third with 177,120 votes.
