A former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, has resigned his membership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) over alleged rigging of the presidential primary election in favour of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

He noted that his decision to leave the ADC stemmed from his unwillingness to be associated with what he described as a political structure that could influence future elections.

In a statement issued on Monday, Mr Lawal described the presidential primary election as “massively rigged.”

Mr Lawal condemned northerners for preferring Mr Abubakar, whom he described as “a religious hegemonist”, over Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, whom he acknowledged as “a competent world-renowned economist and corporate guru.” 

According to him, President Bola Tinubu is a better choice of candidate than Mr Abubakar. 

The former SGF, who said he exited the ADC due to Mr Abubakar’s emergence as the party’s presidential candidate, said the ADC presidential primary results were written to favour Mr Abubakar.

He insisted that he would not be part of the former vice president’s rigging machine in the 2027 presidential election.

Mr Lawal described Mr Abubakar as incompetent and a tribal and religious bigot who should not come close to the presidential office.

“I am exiting the ADC because its just concluded primaries were at all levels massively rigged in favour of Kachalla Abubakar Atiku,” Mr Lawal said.

The former SGF alleged that results were altered to favour Mr Abubakar and his supporters, adding that even in areas where voting was conducted, declared winners were allegedly replaced.

“Results were just written or rewritten to favour him and his coven. Even where they allowed some semblance of election to hold, the winners were simply replaced with members of his syndicate. In the real sense, it was a disgraceful charade,” he said.