FORMER Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, has reacted to the controversy surrounding his recent resignation from the African Democratic Congress, defending both his decision to leave the party and his criticism of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
News Point Nigeria reports that Lawal had announced his resignation from the ADC on Monday, citing what he described as the party’s abandonment of internal democracy.
In a statement posted on his verified social media account, the former SGF accused the party of manipulating its presidential and other primaries to favour Atiku and his political associates.
According to him, legitimate aspirants were sidelined during the process, while the outcomes of some of the elections had already been predetermined.
Lawal said he could no longer remain in a political platform that, in his view, had effectively become a vehicle for securing Atiku’s emergence as president in the 2027 general election.
However, his post, which contained several expletives, triggered widespread reactions and criticism on social media.
While Atiku himself refrained from publicly engaging with the former SGF, many of his supporters responded strongly to Lawal’s remarks.
In a subsequent social media post, Lawal insisted that he was unbothered by the criticisms coming from Atiku’s supporters.
Instead, he used the opportunity to revisit the circumstances surrounding his removal from office as SGF and challenge what he described as a false narrative that he was removed over corruption allegations.
According to him, many of the attacks against him were built around claims that he was disgraced out of office because of the so-called “grass cutter” scandal.
“ALL these insults are predicated on only two planks as follows but every single one of them avoided my arguments. The first is that I am a ‘grass cutter’ disgraced out of office on account of the scandal,” he wrote.
Lawal argued that the controversy was orchestrated as part of a broader effort to force him out of office because of his close relationship with former President Muhammadu Buhari.
He said Buhari had been his mentor since 1971 and personally invited him to join his political campaign team in 2002.
According to Lawal, some individuals became uncomfortable with the relationship and feared Buhari might be grooming him for a higher political role.
He also alleged that others opposed his appointment as SGF because he was from the Kilba ethnic group and a Christian.
Lawal claimed that despite efforts by certain individuals to convince Buhari not to appoint him, the former president refused to yield to pressure.
According to him, this led to a determined campaign aimed at removing him from office.
“So they had to get me out of the seat of the very powerful SGF at all costs,” he said.
The former SGF alleged that the mission to remove him was handed to some northern senators who subsequently subcontracted the task to what he described as “legislative hatchet men,” who allegedly recruited sympathisers and collaborators within the executive arm of government and the media.
He, however, declined to identify those involved.
“I will save them the shame by not naming them here because the main contractor himself later apologized to me in the presence of three of our common friends and as a good Christian that I strive to be, I forgave him right there at the meeting and it has remained so ever since,” he said.
Although he did not mention the name of former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Lawal appeared to suggest that the then vice president played a major role in the events leading to his removal.
He claimed that after the Senate submitted an interim report recommending his dismissal, Buhari initially rejected the recommendation based on advice from the Attorney General, who reportedly found the allegations lacking in substance and due process.
Lawal said the matter persisted because the then vice president allegedly continued to raise it with Buhari until the president authorised a separate investigation.
According to him, the report from that investigation ultimately recommended his removal despite what he described as an absence of evidence.
“The progression of this case was that the Senate submitted an interim report to the President urging him to sack me but which the president dismissed on the advice of the Attorney General as lacking in substance and fair hearing,” he stated.
“But the matter would not die because the then Vice President for reasons best known to him decided to pursue the matter with the president incessantly pestering him until the president gave in and permitted him and two others to investigate the matter. It was this report that without a shred of evidence recommended my removal.”
Lawal further recalled that the matter was eventually transferred to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for investigation and possible prosecution.
He said he personally welcomed that move because he believed only a judicial process could clear his name.
According to him, the EFCC called 14 witnesses during the trial, but none implicated him in either the award or execution of the contract at the centre of the controversy.
He maintained that all the witnesses effectively testified to his innocence and that he and the other defendants were eventually discharged and acquitted on a no-case submission filed by their lawyers.
Lawal also disclosed that Buhari allowed him to read the report submitted by the vice president-led panel.
According to him, the report concluded that he had not committed a criminal offence but that a company he once owned executed a contract in an agency under his supervision, which the panel interpreted as an abuse of office.
He explained that the contract in question involved consultancy services valued at N7.2 million and was awarded to his former company, Rholavision Engineering Limited, through what he described as a competitive bidding process.
Lawal insisted that he was not aware of the contract at the time it was awarded.
He added that the principal contract was awarded to Josmon Technologies Limited and that he had never met the owners of the company until they encountered one another in court.
The former SGF said he later discovered that the project consisted of two phases with a combined value of about N540 million.
According to him, both the consultancy contract and the main project were fully executed, while payments were only made after certification by the Office of the Auditor-General and internal auditors that the work had been completed according to specifications.
“So no money was lost by the government, no bribe was given and no money was laundered,” he said.
“7.2 million Naira; that is it. In these days when billions of dollars get taken out of government coffers in a single deal, is it not a wonder that an SGF would lose his position and scandalized over a pittance 7.2m Naira and someone is celebrating it?”
Lawal also defended his criticism of Atiku, insisting that questioning the character and competence of anyone seeking the nation’s highest office was a legitimate democratic right.
“No, it is my right to interrogate the character and competence of someone who seeks to be my President,” he said.
“He is free to step down his ambition if he does not want to be so queried. Indeed I would urge ADC to replace this man with a more qualified candidate if they want to have any hope of winning the presidential election before INEC timetable runs out on them.”
The former SGF maintained that his position was motivated by concern for Nigeria’s future rather than personal animosity.
“I mean well for my country,” he stated.
“But as I had written in a WhatsApp message to Atiku Abubakar himself on 19th December, 2025, I will not lie low and allow his goons to lynch me, be it physically or on social media.”
Lawal’s latest comments come amid growing political tensions within opposition circles as parties and key actors continue to reposition ahead of the 2027 general election.