ADC presidential candidate and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has dismissed allegations made by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Babachir Lawal , describing them as “an unfortunate cocktail of bitterness, conjecture and political revisionism masquerading as public interest.”
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Mr. Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said Nigerians who watched Lawal’s recent television interview were presented with “a man armed with outrage but bereft of evidence; rich in allegations but poor in facts.”
According to Shaibu, what was portrayed as a serious political intervention ultimately collapsed into speculation and unsubstantiated claims.
“Mr. Lawal spent nearly an hour making grave accusations about the conduct of the ADC presidential primary. Yet he failed to produce a single piece of verifiable evidence. No document. No petition. No result sheet. No witness statement. No recording. Nothing,” the statement said.
“He arrived with accusations. He left with accusations. In between, the evidence never arrived.”
Shaibu argued that a former SGF and former National Vice Chairman of a political party should understand the difference between evidence and suspicion.
“Instead, Nigerians were treated to stories about unnamed callers, unnamed officials, unnamed witnesses and unnamed conspirators. By the time the interview ended, the only thing in abundance was speculation,” he added.
The Atiku aide described Lawal as “a disappointed political actor struggling to come to terms with the failure of his preferred candidate,” alleging that Lawal openly aligned himself with another aspirant before the conclusion of the process.
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“Having failed in that objective, he now seeks to dress personal disappointment in the borrowed robes of moral outrage,” Shaibu stated.
He also faulted what he described as contradictions in Lawal’s remarks, particularly claims portraying Atiku as both politically irrelevant and powerful enough to allegedly orchestrate manipulation across thousands of wards nationwide.
“What makes this theory particularly absurd is that it requires Nigerians to believe that thousands of ADC members across the federation abandoned their own judgment and surrendered their votes to an invisible conspiracy directed by a man whom Mr. Lawal simultaneously describes as politically inactive,” he said.
Shaibu further questioned Lawal’s motives, accusing him of attempting to discredit Atiku before Christian communities in the Middle Belt and other regions where the former Vice President enjoys support.
“More revealing, however, was Mr. Lawal’s astonishing confession on national television that if he ever needed money, all he had to do was call President Tinubu and the money would reach him before he got home,” the statement added.
The statement maintained that Lawal’s allegations lacked credibility because no evidence was presented to support them.
“Given every opportunity to substantiate his claims, he left the studio exactly as he entered it — with accusations but without proof, with outrage but without evidence, and with bitterness but without credibility,” Shaibu said.
He stressed that while Lawal was entitled to his opinions and political preferences, he was “not entitled to his own facts.”
“As far as we are concerned, this is the final response to Mr. Lawal’s increasingly desperate attempts to remain politically relevant through sensationalism and character assassination,” the statement concluded.
Read the full article at The Guardian Nigeria →📄Source document: Statement by Atiku Abubakar's Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu
5 reports
The PunchIndependentCenter12 days agoAtiku Abubakar's camp has rejected allegations by Babachir Lawal of irregularities in the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential primary, characterizing the claims as baseless and motivated by personal bitterness rather than facts.
Bias read (Center): The headline and text frame the dispute through one side's rebuttal, but this reflects the article's subject (a partisan exchange) rather than the outlet's own slant; no editorializing language is added by the reporter.
Vanguard NigeriaIndependentCenter12 days agoFormer Vice President Atiku Abubakar, through his aide Phrank Shaibu, dismissed allegations by former SGF Babachir Lawal regarding the conduct of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential primary, saying Lawal made grave accusations on a television interview without producing any verifiable evidence. The statement characterized Lawal as a disappointed political actor whose preferred candidate lost, noted he had openly campaigned for another aspirant, and pointed to alleged contradictions in his claims. Atiku's camp described the statement as its final response to the matter.
Bias read (Center): The piece reports a partisan rebuttal but is framed as straightforward attributed coverage of one side's statement; it relays Atiku's characterizations as quotes rather than asserting them, so the framing reflects the source's bias rather than the outlet's slant on Nigeria's domestic left-right axis.
Official sources cited
- organisation Statement by Atiku Abubakar's Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu
Vanguard NigeriaIndependentCenter12 days ago Alleged rigging: Stop grandstanding, bring your evidence, Atiku dares ex-SGF LawalFormer Vice President Atiku Abubakar has rejected allegations made by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, regarding the conduct of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential primary. Atiku described the allegations as being driven by bitterness, conjecture, and political revisionism rather than genuine concern for the public interest. Atiku’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, stated that Lawal made serious accusations during a televised interview but provided no verifiable evidence to support them. The statement indicated
Bias read (Center): The article presents statements from both Atiku Abubakar and his spokesperson, Phrank Shaibu, without overtly favoring one side. It reports their responses to allegations made by Babachir Lawal, focusing on the lack of evidence provided by Lawal. There is no clear ideological framing or biased phras
The Guardian NigeriaIndependentCenter12 days agoAtiku Abubakar, the ADC presidential candidate and former Vice President, has dismissed allegations made by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, calling them 'bitterness without proof.' In a statement released through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku criticized Lawal for making grave accusations during a televised interview without providing any verifiable evidence such as documents, petitions, result sheets, witness statements, or recordings. The statement emphasized that Lawal failed to present any substantiation for
Bias read (Center): The article presents both parties' positions without overtly favoring one side. It quotes Atiku Abubakar's response to allegations made by Babachir Lawal, without adding commentary or bias. The framing appears balanced, focusing on the lack of evidence provided by Lawal according to Atiku's camp.
Vanguard NigeriaIndependentRight12 days ago Atiku didn’t do much to secure ADC presidential primary — Babachir LawalBabachir Lawal, a former top Nigerian official, stated that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar did not actively campaign or work to secure the presidential nomination within the African Democratic Congress (ADC) party before becoming its candidate for the 2027 election. Lawal resigned from the ADC following the primary election and criticized Atiku's lack of visible effort compared to other candidates such as Rotimi Amaechi, who reportedly campaigned more aggressively.
Bias read (Right): The article presents a critical perspective toward Atiku Abubakar, suggesting he did not make sufficient efforts to secure the presidential nomination. This framing implies skepticism toward his leadership and campaign strategy, which aligns with a right-leaning viewpoint in the context of NigerianÂ
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