Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, has claimed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu played a decisive role in the formation of the All Progressives Congress (APC), financed major parts of the party’s victorious 2015 presidential campaign and set aside his own presidential ambition to help unseat the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Lawal made the revelations during an interview on Symfoni TV, where he reflected on the events that led to the creation of the APC and the party’s historic victory in the 2015 general election.
According to him, former President Muhammadu Buhari personally asked him to facilitate discussions that eventually led to the merger between opposition parties.
“Buhari said, ‘You are the only one that can help us do this merger because Bola is your friend,’” Lawal recalled.
He said Tinubu agreed to put Nigeria’s political future ahead of his personal ambition by suspending his desire to contest for the presidency.
“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 and put it aside until we achieve this goal,” Lawal quoted Tinubu as saying.
Lawal also claimed he convinced Tinubu to support Buhari after analysing voting figures, arguing that Buhari already had a strong voter base in northern Nigeria and only needed support from the South-West to secure victory.
“He saw the logic and persuaded them with the argument… Around 4 a.m., they agreed that they were going to support Buhari,” he said.
The former SGF further alleged that Tinubu personally financed critical aspects of the APC’s 2015 campaign, including campaign activities for then vice-presidential candidate Yemi Osinbajo.
“Through him, we were able to raise sufficient funds to do the campaign. Not only did he do that, Osinbajo’s portion of the campaign… Tinubu was funding it,” Lawal claimed.
He also alleged that Tinubu hired American political consultants linked to former U.S. President Barack Obama to strengthen the APC’s campaign strategy.
According to Lawal, the consultants were reportedly paid more than ₦2 billion.
“They transformed our campaign, and I knew that the money he paid them was in excess of two billion naira,” he said.
Lawal further claimed that Tinubu often paid for major campaign expenses from his personal funds instead of relying on the party’s campaign account.
“If there’s a need for an expenditure, no matter how massive, he doesn’t come to the campaign purse; he spends from his own purse,” he alleged.
Despite praising Tinubu’s contributions before he became president, Lawal expressed disappointment with the current administration, describing it as a failure.
He accused those in government of placing personal interests above the country’s welfare and said many Nigerians were struggling with economic hardship.
“The people running the government don’t seem to be people who love the country. They are people who love themselves. Everybody is bitter that life is tough,” he said.
Lawal also claimed that Tinubu had changed since assuming office.
“Suddenly, I don’t know what has happened; he has lost his soul. Having come to this government, he has lost his soul,” he added.
Neither the Presidency nor the APC had responded to Lawal’s claims as of the time of filing this report.
