APC hits ex-SGF, Lawal, over claim that Obi, not Tinubu won presidential election

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has stated that former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, has become a distraction for the present administration.

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Felix Morka, made this remark in a statement on Monday night.

Morka was reacting to a statement attributed to the erstwhile chieftain of the APC, who claimed that the presidential candidate of his new party, the Labour Party, Peter Obi, won the last general elections.

The former SGF claimed that the incumbent president, Bola Tinubu, came in a distant third in the election.

Lawal also expressed strong reservations about the capacity of Tinubu’s ministers and other appointees in his administration.

But Morka described the former SGF as someone who has yet to recover from the defeat of his favoured candidate, Peter Obi.

The APC further challenged Engineer Lawal to provide convincing evidence that the LP candidate won the election, just as it described him as a traitor for not providing the LP candidate with facts to help Obi prove his case before the Presidential Elections Petitions Court.

The statement reads in part: ‘Clearly, the defeat of his principal, Peter Obi, at the poll has done incalculable damage to Mr Lawal’s psyche and his capacity for rational thought, as evident in his analysis based entirely on the figment of his warped imagination rather than on hard facts and figures.

A clear sign of his disconnect from reality was his reference to the election held in May 2023 rather than February.

“We challenge Babachir Lawal to give a detailed breakdown of his so-called ‘aggregated facts sourced from independent sources,’ which he claimed proved that Obi won the election or will forever keep mute.

That he did not provide these facts to help Obi prove his case before the Presidential Elections Petitions Court is a massive disservice, if not a betrayal of his political principles.

“Babachir Lawal ought to have known that running a jaundiced commentary on a matter before the Supreme Court is the height of irresponsibility.

But he is still nursing bitterness and vindictiveness over his failed dream of running on a joint ticket with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“Indeed, Babachir Lawal is in dire need of professional counselling and deserves our collective pity.

It is obvious he may never get over the pain of being tossed into the dustbin of political ignominy by President Bola Tinubu, who, against all odds, defeated Mr Peter Obi, who exploited our religious and ethnic fault lines in his campaign for the nation’s highest office.

“Thankfully, Nigerians across all ethnic and religious divides saw through Babachir Lawal’s and Peter Obi’s shenanigans and voted for the best candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

“Furthermore, it is very uncharitable for Mr. Babachir Lawal to call into question the professional competence of President Tinubu’s appointees, some of whom he cannot hold a candle to regarding their political and professional accomplishments.

“Babachir Lawal is one lightweight politician who thinks himself a heavyweight. He failed spectacularly as a politician in his state of Adamawa, where, in three election circles, he could not deliver his ward and local government in his Hong Kong local government.

“Despite his legendary failure as a politician, former President Muhammadu Buhari, in deference to diversity, appointed him to the high office of SGF, where he was unceremoniously sacked on account of very poor performance and dishonourable conduct.

A man like Babachir Lawal is in no position to offer an opinion on the competence of President Tinubu’s appointees.

“We are convinced that these appointees would justify the confidence reposed in them by the President by delivering on the promises of the Renewed Hope Agenda of this administration.

“And while they are at it, we would admonish Babachir Lawal to concentrate on managing his farm and stop constituting himself into a needless distraction unbefitting of his age and status.