Babachir Lawal Dumps ADC, Says Atiku Can’t Defeat Tinubu
A widening fracture has emerged within Nigeria’s opposition bloc following the resignation of former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, from the African Democratic Congress (ADC), with the political heavyweight openly declaring that the party’s presidential flagbearer, Atiku Abubakar, lacks the political capacity to unseat President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general election.
Lawal, who served as North East Zonal Chairman of the ADC, formally announced his exit on Monday, alleging that the party’s presidential primary was systematically manipulated to favour the former vice president. He maintained that the process failed to meet acceptable democratic standards and rendered the party incapable of serving as a credible alternative to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
“For me, supporting Atiku Abubakar would amount to clearing the path for President Tinubu’s re-election,” Lawal stated. “In fact, I have come to believe that Tinubu may ultimately perform better than Atiku, despite my reservations about the current administration.”
The former APC chieftain alleged that primary results were rewritten and candidates substituted to engineer outcomes favourable to Atiku and his political associates. “I am leaving because the primaries were massively rigged in favour of Atiku. In many cases, results were simply written or rewritten to favour him and his political associates. What happened was a complete charade,” he said.
Lawal further questioned Atiku’s suitability for national leadership, expressing disappointment that northern politicians had rallied behind the former vice president despite worsening regional indicators on poverty and insecurity. “I expected Northerners who insisted on a northern president to support someone capable of reversing the region’s decline, not someone I consider unfit for the task,” he said.
He predicted the eventual political collapse of the Atiku project, warning that the former vice president would encounter a political structure “far more sophisticated and ruthless” than his own.
Reacting through media aide Phrank Shaibu, Atiku’s camp dismissed the allegations as the grievances of a politician whose preferred candidate lost. “What appears to be troubling Mr. Lawal is not the conduct of the election but the outcome,” Shaibu said. “Democracy guarantees participation, not victory. You cannot praise a process when it favours you and condemn it when it does not.”
Shaibu noted that Lawal had accepted other outcomes from the same primary exercise where candidates aligned with him emerged victorious, describing his selective rejection as inconsistent. “He has produced no documents, no witnesses and no credible evidence to back his claims of manipulation,” the statement added.
The camp also accused Lawal of retreating into ethnic and religious narratives after losing influence within the party. “Having failed politically, he now seeks refuge in divisive rhetoric. Nigerians are more concerned about inflation, insecurity, unemployment and the rising cost of living than personal grievances over party primaries,” Shaibu said.
The ADC has been positioned since 2024 as the rallying platform for a broad opposition coalition seeking to consolidate forces against the APC ahead of 2027. The party’s primary, which produced Atiku as flagbearer, was conducted across thousands of wards nationwide. However, the coalition has faced repeated internal turbulence, with prominent figures publicly questioning its cohesion and strategic direction.
Lawal said he would spend the coming weeks consulting political associates before announcing his next political destination. His exit deepens uncertainty within the opposition camp at a moment when political realignments are accelerating ahead of the 2027 contest.