Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir David Lawal, has announced his resignation from the African Democratic Congress (ADC), marking a reversal of his earlier alignment with the opposition party that had positioned itself to challenge President Bola Tinubu in 2027.
Lawal, who joined the ADC in 2025 as part of a coalition opposed to Tinubu’s government, said the party’s presidential primaries were systematically manipulated to produce former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the candidate.
“I am exiting the ADC because its just concluded primaries were at all levels massively rigged in favour of Kachalla Abubakar Atiku,” Lawal wrote in a Facebook statement on June 1, 2026.
He further alleged: “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.”
The former SGF explained that his decision to leave the ADC was a direct response to what he described as an emerging rigging apparatus.
“I do not intend to be part of Kachalla Atiku’s rigging machine in the 2027 general elections, and I cannot avoid doing so if I remain in the party,” he stated.
In a notable departure from typical opposition rhetoric, Lawal offered a comparative assessment of the two leading political figures.
“I believe Tinubu might, comparatively speaking, end up a better Nigerian president than Kachalla Atiku could ever be (as bad as Tinubu currently is and possibly could ever be),” he wrote.
Lawal said he would temporarily step back from active politics. “I will in the meantime retire to my village farm from where I will be watching Kachalla Atiku and his band of wicked vote riggers and result manipulators mercilessly out-rigged and beaten to pulp by Tinubu’s ruthless and superior rigging machine,” he added.
Why Babachir Joined the ADC
Lawal’s exit represents a U-turn from his position in 2025, when he actively worked to build the ADC into a formidable opposition coalition. After falling out with the All Progressives Congress (APC), where he served as SGF under President Muhammadu Buhari, Lawal became a key architect of the ADC coalition.
In July 2025, he defended the decision to adopt an existing party rather than register a new one. “We decided that the wisdom to enter an existing political party posed less risk than registering a new one,” he said at the time. “This government won’t allow the type of people you’re showing on your TV now to register a new political party.”
By October 2025, Lawal was inaugurating ADC executives in Adamawa State, declaring: “If we put our acts together, we will win Adamawa State.” The coalition’s momentum grew when Atiku formally joined the ADC in November 2025, followed by other opposition figures including Peter Obi by December 2025.
How Atiku Clinched the ADC Ticket
The ADC conducted its presidential primaries in May 2026 through a direct voting system. Official results gave Atiku Abubakar 1,846,370 votes, defeating Rotimi Amaechi (504,117 votes) and Mohammed Hayatu-Deen (177,120 votes). The party reported 2,527,977 out of 3,113,599 registered members participated.
Both defeated candidates rejected the outcome. Hayatu-Deen withdrew before the final announcement, stating: “I am concerned by reports from across the country of widespread vote rigging, some of which I myself observed.” Amaechi described the results as “concocted” and alleged voter disenfranchisement.
ADC National Chairman, Senator David Mark, defended the process as largely free and fair while acknowledging minor imperfections. Atiku has since held reconciliation meetings with both Amaechi and Hayatu-Deen, stating after one such meeting that discussions focused on “the troubling state of the nation, the growing economic pain, insecurity, and the urgent responsibility on patriotic Nigerians to find solutions.”
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