Former SGF Babachir Lawal resigns from ADC as he claims primaries were ‘massively rigged’ for Atiku

Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, has resigned from the African Democratic Congress, alleging that the party’s recently concluded primaries were heavily manipulated in favour of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and his associates.

In a statement issued on Monday, June 1, Lawal claimed the primaries held ahead of the 2027 elections were compromised at multiple levels, describing the process as unfair and lacking credibility.

The ADC recently conducted nationwide direct primaries to select candidates for governorship, legislative and presidential positions. Atiku emerged as the party’s presidential candidate after polling 1,846,370 votes, defeating Rotimi Amaechi and Mohammed Hayatu-Deen.

Lawal alleged that election outcomes were predetermined in favour of Atiku’s camp and claimed that, in some cases, individuals declared winners were replaced by preferred candidates. “I sense a conspiracy of silence of which I want no part. Most members of the party are behaving as if this is the normal thing to do,” he said. “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.”

The former SGF said he could not remain in a party he believes is tolerating electoral manipulation, adding that he does not want to be associated with any alleged rigging plan ahead of the 2027 elections. Lawal also criticised Atiku’s leadership credentials and declared that he would oppose the former vice-president’s presidential ambition.

His resignation comes after both Amaechi and Hayatu-Deen rejected the outcome of the ADC presidential primary and boycotted the official announcement of the results in Abuja. The ADC has not yet publicly responded to Lawal’s allegations.