Atiku Camp Fires Back at Babachir Over ADC Primary Rigging Allegations

The camp of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has dismissed allegations by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, that the party’s presidential primary was manipulated, describing the claims as baseless and unsupported by evidence.

ValidViewNetwork had earlier reported that Lawal, announced his resignation from the ADC on Monday, accusing Atiku of influencing the outcome of the party’s presidential primary and questioned the credibility of the exercise.

Responding in a statement issued by Atiku’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former vice president’s camp insisted that the primary reflected the wishes of party members nationwide and accused Lawal of attempting to undermine a democratic process because it did not favour his preferred candidate.

“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 read.

Shaibu maintained that Lawal had failed to provide any proof to substantiate claims that the primary was rigged.

According to him, the exercise was conducted across thousands of wards nationwide and produced a clear 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 said.

The Atiku camp also accused Lawal of double standards, noting that he appeared willing to accept the outcome of the same primary process in Adamawa State, where his cousin, Omar Suleiman, emerged as the ADC governorship candidate.

“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,” the statement added.

The former SGF was further accused of allowing disappointment over the presidential primary outcome to cloud his judgment.

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“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 stated.

The statement also criticised what it described as Lawal’s reliance on ethnic and religious sentiments in attacking the primary process, arguing that such rhetoric offers no solutions to Nigeria’s economic and security challenges.

Defending Atiku’s credentials, Shaibu said Nigerians were familiar with the former vice president’s record in public service, business and economic reform, insisting that the 2027 presidential election would be determined by issues of governance and national development rather than internal party disagreements.

He added that no amount of post-primary controversy would alter the outcome of the ADC presidential contest.

“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,” the statement concluded.