Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, has provided a unique, behind-the-scenes look into how he and other prominent political figures convinced President Bola Tinubu to back Muhammadu Buhari’s presidential campaign just before the 2014 All Progressives Congress (APC) convention.
Speaking on Channels Television’s ‘Inside Sources with Laolu Akande’ on Friday, Lawal, now a key member of the new opposition coalition, detailed the intense discussions and strategic maneuvers that secured Tinubu’s vital endorsement of Buhari.
He described this as a pivotal decision that “changed the trajectory of Nigeria’s political history.”
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“The truth of the matter is that Bola had a huge input in the emergence of Buhari as president,” Lawal said.
“He contributed much. Not necessarily financially, but using his social skills, you know, to get people, to convince people.”
Lawal painted a picture of a chaotic pre-convention landscape, with Buhari’s chances looking rather dim.
“We could see that Buhari didn’t have delegates. Even in Katsina, we were not sure where they were going, because Atiku was there, and the North-West was there. And then there was Kwankwaso, too, and this other guy from Niger. But these were serious people, serious candidates.”
According to Lawal, Buhari’s austere persona made Northern elites uneasy.
“People were afraid. Northwest people were afraid of him. We have a lifestyle that we are leeches of government, and Buhari might not allow that type of thing,” he explained, adding jokingly, “I won’t come to the Villa to greet the president. It’s annoying. I’ll go back with the Ghana Must Go everywhere. That’s our thing—we’ll stop!”
Faced with this resistance, Lawal said he and his late colleague, Inuwa Abdulkadir, who was then National Vice Chairman (North-West) of the APC, decided on an urgent move: a late-night strategy session with Tinubu.
“We sat down—myself and Abdulkadir—we said, ‘What is going to happen to this convention on Saturday?’ There were problems,” he recounted. Their analysis led them to consider Rochas Okorocha, a southern Christian and Igbo man who, in their view, was surprisingly palatable to Northern voters due to his Northern upbringing and philanthropic records.
“He seemed to be one southerner that northerners would love, and were comfortable with. So we calculated that if Okorocha were to get all the Southeast votes and the North Central, Northern Christian votes… and add to it one or two Igbo votes from Delta, from Rivers, and so on, he would carry the ticket. That was our permutation.
“Realising this could split the northern vote and jeopardise Buhari’s chances, they headed to Tinubu’s residence around 3 a.m. to make the case.
“We laid this on the table,” Lawal said. “See, you people, you have to support, you have no choice but to support this man [Buhari]. Even if he campaigns or not… he will have 11 million votes whether he is on the ticket or not.”
He continued: “So all we need is a little bit less than 5 million votes to match it up, to scale the closing line. And why did we enter the merger? To get these votes, the balance of these votes comes from the Southwest, six states. And of course, Edo was an appendage of the six states at that time.”
The argument, Lawal said, was compelling. “We argued and argued and argued. And [Asiwaju] saw the logic. It’s better to join the winning ticket rather than support the losing ticket. And he saw the calculation. He saw the logic and agreed—the Southwest would deliver at the primaries.”
Lawal then revealed that some Southwest delegates had received “incentives” from a rival candidate, but were forced to return the money once Tinubu made it obvious that Buhari was his choice.
“Let me tell you, it got to a stage the people, who had collected some incentive from one of the candidates—I won’t mention [his name] were forced to refund the money after the Southwest had decided on where they were going,” he said.
With Tinubu’s backing secured, the tide turned. “That’s how we got to the convention, now sure that Buhari would win. And when the Northwest people realised that the Southwest was going to go with Buhari, it was better not to anger Buhari. Because if we don’t vote for him and he’s going to win, we’re in trouble.”
Lawal acknowledged Tinubu’s political skills as decisive in Buhari’s emergence: “This type of skill that he brought to the system, along with other things, contributed to Buhari’s victory.”
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