Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, has renewed his allegation that the African Democratic Congress presidential primary was manipulated to pave the way for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to emerge as the party’s candidate.
Lawal said the alleged manipulation of the primary was among the key reasons he eventually resigned from the ADC.
He made the fresh allegation in an interview with Trust TV, where he recalled events surrounding the party’s presidential primary and explained his decision to support another aspirant, Mohammed Hayatu-Deen.
Lawal said his support for Hayatu-Deen was based on his assessment that the former banker was the most capable of the aspirants seeking the ADC presidential ticket.
“Like my state, outrightly, from day one, my preference was for Hayatu-Deen. No doubt about that because I considered him the most capable among all the aspirants,” he said.
The former SGF explained that he was serving as the ADC vice-chairman in Adamawa State when preparations for the presidential primary were underway.
He said he was involved in the process of setting up the committee that was to conduct the primary in the state.
According to Lawal, the party’s guidelines provided for the appointment of the chairman and secretary of the electoral committee, while the state was to nominate five additional members.
He said he backed Hayatu-Deen because he believed the aspirant stood a good chance of winning the contest.
Lawal also claimed that Hayatu-Deen emerged victorious in his state during the voting.
He alleged, however, that the situation changed during the collation of the results.
According to him, votes recorded for Hayatu-Deen were subsequently attributed to Atiku.
“When they started filtering out the results, I found out that they were declaring Atiku. Then I found out that the result for Hayatu-Deen was credited to Atiku,” he said.
Lawal said he questioned the alleged changes after noticing them but was given explanations for why the outcome was expected to favour Atiku.
He alleged that some individuals told him the party could not afford to embarrass Atiku because of his status as the party’s leader.
The former SGF said he rejected the explanation and sought to challenge what he regarded as irregularities in the conduct of the primary.
He claimed, however, that his objections had no effect on the final outcome.
Lawal’s latest remarks are similar to allegations he made in June following his resignation from the ADC.
He resigned from the party shortly after Atiku emerged as its presidential candidate for the 2027 general election.
At the time, Lawal alleged that the party’s primaries at various levels had been manipulated to benefit Atiku and his supporters.
He further alleged that in some areas where elections were held, the names of those who won were changed during the process of compiling the final results.
The ADC held its presidential primary on May 25, 2026, with Atiku emerging as the party’s candidate.
He was declared the winner ahead of former Rivers State governor Rotimi Amaechi and Hayatu-Deen.
The announced results showed Atiku with 1,846,370 votes, while Amaechi secured 504,117 votes and Hayatu-Deen polled 177,120 votes.
The declaration was disputed by some of the contestants.
Both Hayatu-Deen and Amaechi had expressed objections to aspects of the process before the final results were announced.
The disagreement subsequently became a significant issue within the opposition camp as political parties continued efforts to establish a platform ahead of the 2027 election.
Atiku’s camp has repeatedly dismissed Lawal’s allegations.
The former vice president’s media team accused Lawal of making serious claims without producing evidence to substantiate the allegation that the primary was manipulated.
Atiku’s camp maintained that the exercise was conducted nationwide and that the declared outcome reflected votes recorded during the primary.
The dispute also resulted in conflicting accounts from officials involved in the conduct of the primary in Adamawa State.
In June, Nicholas Msheliza, chairman of the ADC electoral committee in Adamawa State, accused Lawal of attempting to influence the outcome in favour of Hayatu-Deen.
Msheliza, who also served as the returning officer for the Adamawa primary, alleged that Lawal contacted him after the results had been compiled and requested that the result from Hong Local Government Area be altered.
He said he rejected the request, insisting that the official figures represented the votes recorded during the exercise.
The returning officer said Atiku won Hong Local Government Area with 11,991 votes, while Hayatu-Deen received 2,493 votes and Amaechi polled 377 votes.
Msheliza further alleged that a parallel electoral structure was subsequently established in parts of Adamawa after he declined to alter the result.
Lawal has continued to give a different account of the events surrounding the primary.
His latest account centres on the alleged transfer of votes during the collation process and the decision by some party officials to declare Atiku the winner despite his claims concerning the results from the state.
The controversy has remained part of the political fallout following Atiku’s emergence as the ADC presidential candidate.
Lawal has since left the ADC and joined the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, where he has continued to criticise Atiku and the circumstances surrounding his emergence as the ADC candidate.
