Nigeria’s opposition party, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) suffered a significant blow Monday as former Secretary to the Nigerian Government, Mr. Babachir Lawal resigned from the party, alleging that the recently concluded primaries were manipulated in favour of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and his associates.
In a statement, Lawal described the exercise as “massively rigged,” stating that the process was skewed to ensure the emergence of Atiku and his allies.
“I am exiting the ADC because its just concluded primaries were at all levels massively rigged in favour Kachalla Abubakar Atiku,” Lawal said.
The former SGF alleged that results were altered to favour Atiku and his supporters, adding that even in areas where voting was conducted, declared winners were allegedly replaced.
“Results were just written or rewritten to favour him and his coven. Even where they allowed some semblance of election to hold, the winners were simply replaced with members of his syndicate. In the real sense it was a disgraceful charade,” Lawal stated.
The former SGF added that he would spend time consulting with political associates on his next steps, but categorically stated that he will continue to oppose Atiku’s presidential ambition, which dates back to 1992.
2027 will be the seventh time Atiku will run for president in Africa’s most populous country.
He was declared the winner of the ADC controversial presidential primary with 1,846,370 votes, while former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi and businessman Mohammed Hayatu-Deen placed second and third with 504,117 and 177,120 votes respectively.
However, both purported losers rejected the outcome, with Amaechi calling the results “concocted”.