• Ex-SGF says Atiku presidency risks ‘chaotic crash,’ cites personal experience working with former VP
…Reveals: Obi said he will lose if he pairs with Atiku
By Abu Adamu
Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, has given a damning assessment of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s leadership style, declaring that faced with a choice between him and President Bola Tinubu, he would choose Tinubu any day.
Lawal, who served as SGF under the late President Muhammadu Buhari, said his preference was based largely on his personal experience working with Atiku, whom he accused of indecision and creating confusion around important political decisions.
Speaking on the Naija Unfiltered Podcast, Lawal said he considered Tinubu the safer choice between the two politicians, warning that an Atiku presidency could plunge Nigeria into what he described as a “chaotic” crash.
“I’d rather go with Bola than Atiku because if Nigeria crashes with Bola, it might be an orderly crash, but with Atiku it would be a chaotic one,” Lawal said.
Pressed to explain the severity of his assessment of Atiku, the former SGF replied bluntly: “Because he’s not a good man.”
Lawal said his position was not based merely on political differences but on his experience dealing directly with the former vice president.
According to him, he had initially contemplated working for Atiku because of his concerns over worsening conditions in northern Nigeria and his belief at the time that the region needed to retain a strong stake in the presidential contest.
“I wanted to work for Atiku. I had the belief that the North, the way we are suffering, we should not surrender the presidency, that at least our own man will not, if nothing else, stop the decline we are in,” he said.
But Lawal said his subsequent dealings with Atiku convinced him otherwise.
“Everything you do with him, there’s chaos,” he said.
He alleged that Atiku would give an instruction only to change course after consultations with other associates, leaving those implementing earlier decisions confused.
According to the former SGF, disagreements over political appointments and other strategic decisions further reinforced his concerns about Atiku’s leadership style, as understandings reached with him could later be altered following interventions by other people.
Lawal also disclosed details of behind-the-scenes negotiations over a possible Atiku-Peter Obi presidential ticket ahead of the 2027 election.
He claimed Atiku had asked him to persuade former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi to become his running mate.
Under the proposal, according to Lawal, Atiku would serve for only one term and subsequently pursue a constitutional amendment establishing a single six-year presidential tenure.
Lawal said the arrangement also contemplated a new rotational formula under which the presidency would subsequently move to the South-East and North-Central geopolitical zones.
Because of his relationship with Obi, Lawal said he approached the former Anambra governor with the proposal, but Obi rejected it.
“He says his survey shows him that they are unlikely to win if he pairs with Atiku,” Lawal quoted Obi as saying.
According to him, Obi made it clear that he would rather stay out of the contest than become running mate on a ticket he believed was unlikely to win.
Lawal said he reported Obi’s position to Atiku and subsequently reached out to prominent Igbo leaders in an attempt to persuade the former Anambra governor to reconsider, but the initiative ultimately failed.
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