By Our Reporter
Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, has claimed that President Bola Tinubu played a central role in the formation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and personally financed critical aspects of the 2015 presidential campaign that brought former President Muhammadu Buhari to power.
Lawal, who served under the Buhari administration, made the revelations during an interview on Symfoni TV released on Saturday, where he recounted behind-the-scenes events leading to the merger of opposition parties and Buhari’s eventual victory over the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
According to him, Buhari entrusted him with facilitating the merger talks because of his longstanding relationship with Tinubu.
Lawal said he was initially reluctant to accept the assignment due to concerns about possible political backlash from influential northern figures but eventually agreed after Buhari insisted.
Recalling his conversation with the late former president, Lawal said Buhari told him: “You are the only one that can help us do this merger because Bola is your friend.”
He explained that he subsequently acted as a liaison between the various political groups, engaging party leaders and co-chairmen to ensure the merger succeeded.
Lawal further revealed that Tinubu willingly put aside his own presidential ambition to prioritise ending the PDP’s 16-year rule.
Quoting Tinubu, he said: “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.”
The former SGF also credited Tinubu with influencing the outcome of the APC presidential primary by rallying South-West support behind Buhari after reviewing delegate projections.
He said he presented Tinubu with electoral data showing Buhari’s consistent northern support base of about 12 million votes and argued that backing from the South-West would secure victory.
“I said, sir, look at it. I have this data… This man (Buhari), whether he is on the ballot or not, he normally gets 12 million votes from the north. So it required three more million votes… Sir, why not support your winning ticket?” Lawal recalled.
According to him, Tinubu accepted the argument and persuaded other South-West stakeholders to support Buhari.
“He saw the logic, persuaded them with the argument. And coming from Tinubu, of course… So at the last minute, around 4 a.m., they agreed that they were going to support Buhari,” he said.
Lawal also alleged that Tinubu mobilised substantial financial resources for the APC campaign and separately funded then-vice presidential candidate Yemi Osinbajo’s campaign activities.
“Through him (Tinubu), we were able to raise sufficient funds to do the campaign.
“Not only did he do that, Osinbajo’s portion of the campaign, he funded it, hired a chartered plane to fund the trip because Osinbajo’s campaign was a little bit broken away from the main campaign.
“Osinbajo on his own was a pastor. His ethnic nationalities and Christians had some doubts about Buhari. He was on that side.
“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 further claimed that Tinubu recruited American political consultants linked to former United States President Barack Obama to strengthen the APC’s campaign operations.
“Then I know of another place when he hired some consultants for us from the US, who were doing quite a lot of professional work.
“I don’t know their names. I just know that they were Obama people, and they came and they transformed our campaign, and I knew that the money he paid them was in excess of two billion naira equivalent in dollars,” he alleged.
Lawal maintained that Tinubu personally financed major campaign expenses rather than relying on the campaign’s central purse.
“And there’s another thing about Bola Tinubu: 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.
“All these things I told you. Some people don’t know this, but I was there, and I knew this. And he did all these things,” he said.
The former SGF also described Tinubu as a generous politician before assuming office, claiming he had helped many people financially without expecting immediate rewards.
“Bola has given some people a stupendous amount of money to help them out of crisis that I know first-hand, without expecting anything,” Lawal said.
“He has a gift… He can see in you a future return for himself in advance.”
Despite praising Tinubu’s contributions to the APC’s rise, Lawal sharply criticised his performance as president, describing his administration after three years in office as a failure.
He accused the government of prioritising personal interests over national development, saying Nigerians had become increasingly frustrated by the country’s economic challenges.
“The people running the government don’t seem to be people who love the country. They are people who love themselves,” he said. “Everybody is bitter that life is tough.”
On Tinubu personally, Lawal added: “Suddenly, I don’t know what has happened, he has lost his soul… Having come to this government, he has lost his soul.”
