Babachir Lawal, former secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), has described the endorsement of President Bola Tinubu for a second term by some governors as “immaterial”.
Lawal said this during an interview with the Nigerian Tribune on Sunday.
On May 22, all 22 state governors in the All Progressives Congress (APC) endorsed Tinubu as the party’s sole candidate for the 2027 presidential election, in what appeared to be a show of loyalty.
Moreover, Mr. Lawal, who is one of the vocal voice in the ongoing opposition coalition, downplayed the endorsement as inconsequential, noting that such declarations are premature and politically irrelevant.
Lawal, a former friend of president Tinubu turned critic, stressed that the coalition he is part of remains focused on building a formidable force to challenge the ruling party in 2027.
He said: “The coalition is “targeting” voters, not political officeholders.
“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 more serious about its chances of upsetting the APC in 2027 and will soon announce its plans.
He added: “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.”
Currently, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has been projected to be 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.
Though, an official statement has not been made by the arrowheads of the coalition, officially announcing ADC as the major political train for the coalition movement.