Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation Babachir Lawal claims President Bola Tinubu was instrumental in creating the All Progressives Congress and bankrolled crucial aspects of Muhammadu Buhari's winning 2015 presidential bid. He also says Tinubu shelved his own presidential dreams to unite the opposition and dislodge the Peoples Democratic Party from power.
Lawal made these assertions during a Symfoni TV interview broadcast on Saturday. However, he described Tinubu's current administration as "a failure," arguing that government officials have prioritised their own interests over national welfare.
According to Lawal, Buhari tasked him with brokering a merger between the Congress for Progressive Change and Tinubu's Action Congress of Nigeria because of their close friendship. "I was in Dubai when you called me that I should come out because we want to do a merger with the ACN," Lawal recalled, adding that Buhari insisted he was the only person who could broker the deal.
Lawal said Tinubu initially hesitated but eventually agreed to set aside his presidential aspirations for the greater good. "BD, you know my ambition to be president.
But the way the country is going, the primary goal is to get rid of PDP. I will defer my ambition, put it aside until we achieve this goal," Lawal quoted Tinubu as saying.
The former official credited Tinubu with swaying South-West delegates to back Buhari at the APC primary after analysing voting patterns. He told Tinubu that Buhari could count on roughly 12 million votes from the north, meaning only three million additional votes were needed to secure victory.
"Sir, why not support your winning ticket?" Lawal said he'd asked. Tinubu accepted the logic and convinced others at the last minute, he added.
Lawal further claimed that Tinubu personally financed major sections of the 2015 campaign using his own resources. This included funding the campaign activities of then vice-presidential candidate Yemi Osinbajo, he said.
"Through him, we were able to raise sufficient funds to do the campaign," Lawal noted. He added that Tinubu hired a chartered plane and covered all expenses for Osinbajo's campaign efforts.
Lawal explained that Osinbajo, a pastor himself, operated somewhat independently from the main campaign machinery because some Christians and members of his ethnic group harboured reservations about Buhari. "He wasn't in our own area, and he was just operating semi-independently of the main campaign.
Tinubu was funding it," Lawal said.
He also alleged that Tinubu brought in American political consultants with ties to former US President Barack Obama to refine the APC's campaign strategy. Lawal claimed that more than N2 billion was spent on these foreign consultants.
