The camp of African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has responded to allegations by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, that the party’s presidential primary was manipulated.
Lawal, who recently announced his resignation from the ADC, had accused Atiku of influencing the outcome of the party’s presidential primary and questioned the credibility of the process.
However, in a statement issued by Atiku’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former vice president’s camp dismissed the allegations as baseless and unsupported by evidence.
“Having chosen to malign a democratic process, insult thousands of ADC members nationwide, and make grave allegations without presenting a shred of evidence, it has become necessary to set the record straight,” the statement said.
According to Shaibu, the ADC presidential primary was conducted across thousands of wards nationwide and reflected the will of party members.
“The truth is straightforward. 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,” he stated.
The Atiku camp also questioned Lawal’s criticism of the primary process, noting that he appeared willing to accept results from the same exercise in other contests.
“Mr Lawal has also 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,” the statement said.
“Nigerians are entitled to ask whether the process was only credible when it favoured his family and only rigged when it produced a presidential candidate he did not support.”
The statement further argued that Lawal’s objections stemmed from dissatisfaction with the outcome rather than genuine concerns about electoral integrity.
“What appears to have truly unsettled Mr Lawal is not the conduct of the primaries but the outcome. Democracy guarantees participation, not victory. One cannot celebrate democracy when it produces a preferred result and suddenly condemn it as rigged when it does not,” Shaibu said.
The Atiku camp also criticised what it described as attempts to inject ethnic and religious sentiments into the debate over the primary.
“Having failed to persuade ADC members to embrace his preferred candidate, he now seeks refuge in the divisive politics of identity,” the statement added.
Shaibu argued that such rhetoric offers no solutions to the country’s challenges.
“It creates no jobs, lowers no food prices, secures no communities, and offers no pathway out of the national crisis,” he said.
Defending Atiku’s credentials ahead of the 2027 presidential election, Shaibu said Nigerians would ultimately decide based on issues of governance, economic recovery and national security.
“The Nigerian people know Atiku Abubakar. They know his record in public service. They know his achievements in business. They know his commitment to national unity and economic reform,” he stated.
The statement concluded by insisting that the outcome of the ADC presidential primary would not be altered by post-election disputes.
“The 2027 election will not be decided by tantrums, ethnic dog whistles, recycled grievances, or revisionist history. It will be decided by the Nigerian people. And no amount of post-primary bitterness can alter that reality.”
