A former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Engr. Babachir Lawal, says the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, has been cornered by “self-serving and lapdogs”, following the latter’s nomination of a former governor of Borno State, Sen. Kashim Shettima, as his running mate for the 2023 presidential election.

Lawal, who condemned the APC’s decision to fly a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket ahead of the next year’s general election, said Tinubu has been surrounded by “sycophants and lapdogs” unlike in his hay-days in Lagos State when he surrounded himself “with smart, street-wise guys that could tell truth to power”.

The former AGF, in a statement issued on Sunday night, described Shettima as “an overambitious man who has a Machiavellian bent and has lots of money with which to procure a preferred-candidate status among Tinubu’s lapdogs.”

He further described the APC’s Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket as a “disastrous error”, saying it will drag down the whole party members to the pit and should be rejected.

He added that he had conveyed his reservations to Tinubu against the “pitfalls” of a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket, noting that he had on many occasions argued the merits and demerits of both ticket permutations to him and had also in both verbal and written form showed his displeasure to such development.

Lawal stated: “Tinubu is a very good man. He is a great listener. He has a very humble and friendly disposition to everyone. He is very generous in both cash and kind, especially where it could advance his political interests. But I have realized that it is in the nature of power that sycophants and lapdogs have the most influence on leaders with such character traits.

“They will lie to him, malign and disparage others and generally do anything to curry his favor and to also put well-meaning associates in bad light. I suspect this is what has happened to my friend. He has been cornered by self-serving, hero-worshiping, lapdogs.

“It never used to be like this. While in his hay-days in Lagos, he surrounded himself with smart, street-wise guys that could tell truth to power. He had Rauph Aregbesola, Yemi Osinbajo, Babatunde Fashola, Dele Alake, Muiz Banire, etc. The Lagos days were the days of think-tanks, strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation, principles, and ideologies.

READ ALSO: Tinubu’s VP: How Buhari appealed to APC govs over Shettima’s nomination

“But these people have since grown-up and moved up to establish their own systems living my friend stranded. Nature they say abhors vacuum.

“Welcome the Abuja equivalent. But the Abuja equivalent are people inflicted with the modern Nigerian diseases – religious bigotry, sycophancy, and morbid tribalism. They are mostly political jobbers who are most times not averse to the application of diabolical means.

“Gone are the days of think-tanks and strategic planning. Gone are the days of principles and ideologies. Try and call a meeting; they will not attend. Try and make a plan; they will sabotage it. Everything is ad-hoc, everything is chaotic because they excel in such environments.

“The result is that they have played on his long-term ambition to be President and have built it into a sort of desperation and a crescendo that easily justifies this satanic resort to a Muslim-Muslim ticket. This is the calamity that has befallen my friend,” Lawal added.

Lawal noted that Tinubu must also be told that there would consequence for picking a Muslim as his running mate, adding that some of them are that Christians all over the country will revolt against the APC to put the chances of his election in serious jeopardy.

He, therefore, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to exercise his powers as the Commander-in-Chief and as the APC leader to revoke Shettima’s nomination as the party’s vice-presidential candidate, saying the APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, should refuse to sign the nomination forms if not rescinded.

The Star