Politics

‘He’s still nursing bitterness’: APC slams Babachir Lawal over claims Obi won 2023 poll

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has slammed the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, over claims that the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, won the February 25 presidential poll.

Lawal had, in a statement on Tuesday, October 17, said Obi won the 2023 presidential election, adding that President Bola Tinubu of the APC came a distant third.

Reacting via a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, the APC challenged Lawal to give a detailed breakdown of his “aggregated facts sourced from independent sources which he claimed proved that Obi won the election or forever keep mute”, noting that the former SGF was still embittered over his failure to contest the election alongside Tinubu.

Morka added: “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 betrayal of his political principal.

“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 counseling 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 that 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.”

The APC spokesman further stated that it was uncharitable for the former SGF to condemn President Tinubu’s appointees, adding that Lawal “is one lightweight politician who thinks himself a heavyweight”.

Morka said: “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.”

He, however, stressed that Tinubu’s appointees would justify the confidence reposed in them by the president by delivering on the promises of the “Renewed Hope Agenda” of his administration.

The Star