Anti-Tinubu coalition won’t be weakened by govs joining APC – Babachir Lawal

Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, has downplayed the recent endorsement of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a second term by governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

In what appeared to be a show of loyalty, all 22 APC governors recently declared their support for Tinubu to emerge as the party’s sole presidential candidate in the 2027 general election.

But Lawal, who is a leading voice in the emerging opposition coalition, dismissed the endorsement as inconsequential, suggesting that such declarations are premature and politically superficial.

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Lawal, a former ally of the president turned critic, emphasized that the coalition he is part of remains focused on building a formidable front to challenge the ruling party in 2027.

Speaking in an interview with the Nigerian Tribune, Lawal described the move as “immaterial”

According to him, the coalition is “targeting” voters, not political officeholders.

He said: “Let the governors continue to defect, we don’t care. If we wake up one morning and heard that all the 36 states governors and the FCT are in APC, we don’t care.

“It is immaterial. They have only 37 votes; maybe we can add their families. Maybe you get 1000 votes. The voter is what we are targeting, and the voter is the victim of the system we are against.”

He said the coalition is keen about its chances of upsetting the APC in 2027 and will soon announce its plans.

Lawal said: “I have been hooked up in this town for the past five months, participating in this. If I knew it wouldn’t succeed, I would be on my farm. I started farming since the season, but I stayed back. So, I must be an idiot if I leave my most important vocation to take coffee and snacks.

“Whoever says we aren’t serious doesn’t know who the people are, because they don’t know who they are, because we don’t take photographs. We don’t take minutes of meetings. We take time to make sure that information on strategies doesn’t leak.

“I am sure that is the reason for all the speculations. But I can tell you that the coalition is very serious; we are experienced and we know what we are doing. At the appropriate time, we will go public with what we are doing.”

Platinumpost reported that the African Democratic Congress (ADC) appears to have emerged as the new political bride in Nigeria’s opposition landscape, following its adoption by a coalition of opposition leaders as the platform to challenge President Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.

Previously on the fringes of national politics, the party was adopted by coalition leaders on Tuesday night in what one proponent described as “the official birth of the coalition”.

The coalition, which is led by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai, was formally announced on March 20. However, a decision on which political platform to adopt had been delayed by several rounds of talks, initially with the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

The SDP had appeared the frontrunner after El-Rufai defected from the APC, sparking a wave of interest from his supporters and other northern political leaders. But cracks soon emerged. SDP’s national chairman, Shehu Gabam, ruled out participation in any party merger, publicly declaring that the party would not allow itself to be used as a “special-purpose vehicle by selfish politicians.”

Following weeks of consultations, coalition leaders met in Abuja and resolved, among other decisions, to adopt the ADC as their platform of choice.

(DailyTrust)