Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, has officially replied to the tribal remarks made by the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal.
Lawal had alleged a week ago that the ADC presidential primary was rigged to favour Atiku.
According to him, Atiku’s victory in ADC is only celebrated by Fulanis, referring to the ex-VP as Kachalla.
In a latest statement, Babachir Lawal had insisted on his remark and called for the replacement of Atiku as ADC presidential candidate ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Reacting, Atiku, in a statement on Sunday by his spokesperson Phrank Shaibu, described Babachir Lawal’s tribal remarks as divisive and ethically profiling.
He said it was unfortunate that a man of Babachir’s standing had chosen to abandon facts and reason in favour of ethnic profiling, prejudice, and conspiracy theories in his desperate attempt to discredit a political opponent.
According to him, Lawal failed to present a single piece of evidence to support his grave allegations, choosing instead to invite Nigerians to substitute suspicion for proof and emotion for facts.
“At no point did Mr Lawal object to receiving such trust and elevation from a Fulani president. He accepted the office, the privileges, and the prestige that came with it. It is therefore difficult to understand why he now seeks to stigmatise an entire ethnic group merely because another Fulani man seeks the presidency through democratic means,” Atiku said.
“Nigerians are entitled to ask a simple question: which Babachir should they believe? The Babachir who claims to be a victim of political conspiracies and ethnic domination, or the Babachir who boasts that governors are scrambling for his services?
“One moment, he presents himself as a lonely patriot standing against an imagined threat to Nigeria. The next moment, he portrays himself as a prized political asset being courted by powerful governors. Such contradictions expose a man struggling to reconcile personal disappointment with political reality.
“If Mr Lawal truly believes that his political future lies in the APC, he is perfectly free to return. What he cannot do is cloak personal political calculations in the language of patriotism while expecting Nigerians not to notice the inconsistency. It is difficult to take lectures on principle from a man who spent the morning marketing his political value to one party and the afternoon accusing another party’s presidential candidate of representing an ethnic conspiracy.”
“His heart appears full of bitterness, and his public utterances increasingly reflect anger rather than reason, grievance rather than evidence. While we do not share his hostility, we genuinely pity him. Politics should not reduce a man to a permanent state of outrage.
“Babachir may see the tribe. I see Nigerians. Babachir may see division. I see a nation that must come together if it is to overcome its present challenges. That is the difference between politics driven by resentment and leadership driven by purpose”, Atiku said.
The former Vice President reaffirmed his commitment to building a Nigeria where every citizen, regardless of ethnicity, religion, region, or social background, enjoys equal opportunity, equal protection, and equal dignity under the law.
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