Atiku, Lawal escalate feud over ADC primary conduct and 2027 race

Atiku Abubakar's camp has rejected allegations leveled by Babachir Lawal regarding the conduct of the African Democratic Congress presidential primary election, characterizing the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation's claims as baseless and rooted in personal disappointment. Phrank Shaibu, Atiku's senior spokesman, stated that Lawal presented no substantive proof to back up his assertions during a recent television interview, instead describing the former official's comments as an unfounded mixture of grievance and political revisionism.

Lawal has mounted a multipronged attack on the former vice president in recent days. During a media appearance, he cautioned Nigerians against supporting Atiku in 2027, using the metaphor of a destructive force to describe his candidacy. In separate remarks, Lawal also indicated that he views President Bola Tinubu's administration, despite its shortcomings, as preferable to what he believes an Atiku presidency would deliver, framing the choice between the two as selecting the lesser of two options.

The dispute emerged after Lawal exited the African Democratic Congress, where he had contested the party's primary election. Atiku secured the party's presidential nomination and subsequently became its flagbearer. Lawal's intervention into the 2027 electoral discourse marks a departure from their earlier alignment and suggests deepening fractures within opposition political circles.

Atiku's representatives have maintained that Lawal spent considerable time during his television interview making serious accusations regarding the primary process without producing a single piece of verifiable documentation. The camp characterizes Lawal's posture as politically motivated rather than evidence-based, emphasizing the absence of concrete documentation to substantiate the allegations of irregularities in how the primary was organized and decided.