A former Secretary to the Federal Government, Babachir Lawal, has added another dimension to the ongoing debate over the outcome of the 2023 presidential election. The ex-SGF said that President Bola Tinubu was not the winner of the February 25 presidential election.
Lawal in a statement yesterday claimed that the candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, won the election. He said data from independent sources indicated that Obi had majority votes while Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came second in the election.
He said: “I have resisted the temptation to engage in contemporary political discourse since the May 2023 election faux pas. “I did this for two reasons; the first being that as an active player in the drama, I needed time to analyse and digest the data that led to the outcome(s), so I could arrive at an informed decision; the second, being that the rainy season had just set in and it was necessary that I focused my attention on my farms which are the mainstay of my livelihood.
“The current topical issues for political discourse and inquiry are whether or not Bola Tinubu won the presidential election and/or that he was apriori, qualified to participate in the election given his murky biodata as is now being publicly unveiled daily in an avalanche.
“My answer to the first inquiry is that regardless of whatever INEC or Appeal Court said or did, Bola did not win the election. “Right from the start of the campaigns, Bola knew he was not going to win the election in a free and fair contest so he decided to go by all means. “Available factual data as aggregated from several independent sources indicate that Obi got the majority votes while Atiku came second. Bola came a distant third in the number of votes scored.
“My answer to the second inquiry is that given the now unfolding deluge of uncomplimentary information about whom or what he actually is, ordinarily, sound ethics and morality should have convinced him to voluntarily excuse himself from participation in the election.”
Lawal asked President Tinubu to save himself from public humiliation and resign. “But this, notwithstanding, I believe he still has time and opportunity to save himself this public humiliation and embarrassment to his person, both locally and internationally by resigning so that he can give more attention to his health.
“After all, no one knows about the truism of these severely embarrassing and humiliating exposures about his person other than the man himself. “Leadership is all about integrity; sound pedigree, trustworthiness, and the ability to unite and instil hope and confidence in the people one seeks to lead. In these qualities, most Nigerians are in total agreement that Bola has them in very short supply indeed.
“But now, six months down the line, the chicken has come home to roost as Nigerians have come to the realisation that we have not got what we deserve politically. “Confusion and despondency are now all over the nation as no one trusts the government to do what it says it will do. No one trusts the leader, and no one trusts appointees who are appointed as rewards for their roles in the election or who had in the past helped him in his life.
“Bola the President and his group are now in government and are in full control of Nigeria’s vast resources and opportunities. They are enjoying their offices while Nigerians languish in insecurity, poverty, and hopelessness,” he said.
