Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, has alleged that the results were altered during the collation of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential primaries, with votes recorded for former presidential aspirant, Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, credited to ex-Vice President, Atiku Abubakar.
NEWSNGR reports that Lawal, during an interview with Trust TV on Friday, alleged irregularities prompted his departure from the ADC.
Lawal said he questioned the alleged alteration but was told that the party could not afford to disgrace Atiku.
According to Lawal, his attempts to protest the alleged manipulation were unsuccessful, as some party members urged him to accept the situation.
The former SGF said he supported Hayatu-Deen, whom he considered the most capable among the contenders.
He said, “Like my state, outrightly, from day one, my preference was for Hayatu-Deen. No doubt about that because I considered him the most capable among all the aspirants.
“When they started filtering out the results, I found out that they were declaring Atiku. Then I found out that the result for Hayatu-Deen was credited to Atiku.”
Speaking further, Lawal said he was the party’s state vice-chairman at the time and helped form a seven-member committee to conduct the primaries.
According to him, the party’s guidelines provided for appointing the chairman and the secretary, while the state was expected to nominate the remaining five members.
