Atiku rigged ADC presidential primaries – Babachir lawal alleges

Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, has accused the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, of manipulating the ADC presidential primary. This claim was made in an interview with Trust TV, following Lawal's departure from the NDC party. Lawal alleged that the votes cast for other presidential aspirants were swapped in favor of Atiku during the primary exercise.

He stated that he supported Hayatu-Deen, considering him the most capable among all the candidates. Lawal was the party's state vice-chairman at the time and served on a seven-member committee to conduct the primaries. The party's guidelines stipulated that the party should appoint the chairman and secretary, while the state was to nominate the remaining five members.

Lawal backed Hayatu-Deen because he believed he would win the primary, but he alleged that the results were altered during the collation process, with votes for Hayatu-Deen being credited to Atiku. When he questioned the alleged alteration, the party officials told him that they could not afford to disgrace Atiku, whom they viewed as their leader.

Lawal maintained that the manipulation of the ADC presidential primary was the reason for his departure from the NDC party.