…As Buhari’s SGF, Babachir Lawal, Says Atiku Planning Othman Dan Fodio Jihad “Phase II”
By Jeremy Fregene
Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has fired back at former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, describing him as a man operating under the influence of alcohol and losing touch with reality after launching a blistering attack on Atiku’s presidential ambition.
The exchange followed a lengthy Facebook post by Lawal titled “Kachalla 2,” in which he accused Atiku of being a Fulani irredentist, questioned his competence and character, and alleged that an Atiku presidency would amount to a “Fulani presidency.”
In the controversial post, Lawal claimed that Atiku had consistently failed to sympathise with victims of attacks allegedly carried out by Fulani bandits across the country. He questioned why the former vice president had not spoken strongly enough about killings in Benue, Plateau, Tiv, Idoma, Berom and other communities, arguing that Atiku’s silence reflected ethnic bias.
Lawal further alleged that supporters of the ADC candidate were pursuing what he described as an “Othman Dan Fodio Jihad Phase II,” claiming that armed groups operating in forests and Atiku’s online supporters shared a common agenda. He warned that an Atiku presidency could embolden notorious bandit leaders and deepen ethnic tensions across the country.
The former SGF also used the post to revisit the corruption allegations that led to his removal from office under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari. He maintained that the so-called “grass-cutting scandal” was a politically motivated plot orchestrated by powerful interests who were uncomfortable with his close relationship with Buhari.
Lawal alleged that the campaign against him was driven by political actors who feared he was being groomed for higher office and claimed that Atiku, then vice president, played a key role in persuading Buhari to approve an investigation that ultimately led to his dismissal.
According to him, he was eventually cleared by the courts and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission after witnesses failed to establish wrongdoing in relation to contracts awarded under the Presidential Initiative for the North-East.
But Atiku’s media office dismissed the allegations as the rantings of a man in a “state of stupor.”
In a statement signed by spokesman Paul Ibe on Sunday, the former vice president’s camp said Lawal appeared to be “going bunkers possibly from the abuse of booze” and was resorting to personal attacks because he could not defend allegations regarding his role in attempts to influence the ADC presidential primary.
The statement said it was ironic that Lawal accused Atiku of remaining silent on insecurity when the former vice president had repeatedly condemned terrorism, banditry and kidnappings across the country.
According to the Atiku camp, while Lawal was busy attacking him on social media, the Waziri Adamawa had consistently expressed sympathy for victims of violence in Benue, Plateau, Borno, Kaduna and other states, while also proposing solutions to the nation’s worsening security crisis.
The statement cited Atiku’s repeated calls for a restructuring of Nigeria’s security architecture, including empowering states to establish properly armed security outfits, strengthening intelligence gathering at the community level, creating a National Victims and Survivors Support Framework, and establishing special courts to try terrorism-related offences with severe penalties for convicted offenders.
It further accused Lawal of ignoring a long record of public statements in which Atiku condemned attacks by terrorists and bandits irrespective of the ethnicity or religion of the victims.
The Atiku camp concluded that when the former SGF eventually becomes “sober,” he should take time to review the numerous interventions made by the ADC presidential candidate on insecurity rather than promoting what it described as divisive ethnic narratives and conspiracy theories.