The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has taken a swipe at a former secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, for saying that the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi was the winner of the 2023 elections and not President Bola Tinubu as declared by INEC.
The party in a statement on Tuesday, Oct. 17, signed by its spokesperson, Felix Morka, said Mr Lawal had not learnt anything from his recent political misadventure.
The former SGF, sacked by former President Muhammadu Buhari over allegations of corruption, was Tinubu’s political associate until the latter chose a Muslim, Kashim Shettima, as his running candidate in the election.
Mr Lawal, a Christian from Adamawa State, condemned the Muslim-Muslim ticket and later ditched the APC for the LP.
Below is the statement released by APC in response to Babachir’s statement.
”BABACHIR LAWAL IS A BURDEN UNTO HIMSELF AND IN NEED OF COUNSELING
Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, emerged from his hibernation slinging incoherent aspersions on the person of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the exalted office he occupies.
After a long hiatus leaking his wounds from the monumental electoral loss of his candidate in the last presidential election, Mr Lawal unabashedly is out again, peddling gibberish, rather than learning from his political misadventure with equanimity.
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 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 their political and professional accomplishments.
Babachir Lawal is one lightweight politician who thinks of 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 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 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.
Signed:
