By Dele Moses
Former Secretary to the Federal Government (SGF), David Babachir Lawal, has said that his reported rejection as the leader of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the North East zone by governorship candidates of the party in the zone was an orchestration of moles within the party plotting downfall of the party at the presidential election.
Lawal made the allegation while reacting to the story of his alleged rejection trending in the social media
The former SGF insinuated in a statement that those behind the reported rejection were working for the opposition parties but pretended to be working or be members of the NDC.
He alleged that the NDC governorship candidate in Adamawa State, Senator Aisa Binani on whom he cast aspersions was the ringleader of the group promoting the rejection.
He however said two of the people mentioned to have signed the statement rejecting him have denied to him their involvement claiming that they implied that their names and signature on the statement were inserted without their authority and knowledge.
Lawal who said he was not perturbed by the story because it was the concern of the NDC leadership who appointed him as the zonal leader said his appointment was in consideration of the asset he constituted to the victory of the party in the zone.
He said he did not request to be appointed for the post before the appointment was influenced by those who wanted him to play in the NDC similar leading role he played for the Peter Obi’s Presidential campaign in the Labour Party in 2023.
Lawal who recently left the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the NDC claimed that the Peter Obi/Rabiu Kwankwaso presidential ticket had an unassailable lead in the North East and North Central zone.
He said he suspected that with this popularity, jiterry opposition parties planted moles in the NDC to sabotage victory of the party in the zone at the presidential election
The NDC chieftain who insinuated that Binani and her group were allegely working for the presidential candidate of the ADC, Atiku Abubakar said that nothwistanding the alleged plot the NDC would in the area defeat Atiku whom he comtemptuosly referred to as “Kachalla Atiku”
His statement reads: “My attention has been drawn to a trending story on the social media to the effect that six so-called gubernatorial candidates of the Nigeria Democratic Congress are protesting my joining the party and my appointment as the Leader of the Party in the North Eastern Zone of the party. I have it on good authority that the charade is being led and organized by a female pretender to the governorship candidacy of Adamawa State.
“However, I wish to record that Professor Mohammed Sani Yahaya and Dr Babayo Ardo of Taraba and Gombe States respectively, have reached out to me to dissociate themselves from this press release and even implied that their names and signatures on the document were inserted without their authority and knowledge.
“It is important to note that this matter of protest is of no worry to me. I consider it as that of the National leadership of the party who it was that recruited me into the party and declared me the National Leader of the party in the North East and North Central Zones of the party. No formal offer was made to me nor did I request to be so appointed before the announcement was made.
I had accepted it in good faith as a mark of respect to Senator Dickson, Mr Obi and Kwankwaso all of whom I highly respect and so could say no to them. I regard this as a holding position based on my prior discussions with the formal leadership of the party and other leading patriots across the country who insisted I rejoin the top leadership team of the Peter Obi campaign team of which I was the 2023/23 Chairman of the Planning, Strategy and Implementation team comprising twelve eminent Nigerians.
“Nonetheless, I need to make my position known since the nincompoops mentioned me by name.
“The Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso ticket has a very massive unassailable lead in the the North East and North Central zones of Nigeria and it is to be expected that rival parties would plant moles into NDC at levels as high the gubernatorial candidates level to sabotage this certain victory. I suspect this is what is now playing out in this desperation of some of these wolves in sheep skin in the NDC in the North East.
“I know that my joining the NDC at this stage poses a major threat to those working for Atiku from within the NDC as subversives of the Peter/Kwankwaso ticket. Thanks to God they have now of their own free will exposed themselves and the voters in the North East have taken note.
“From the reactions that I have been getting from the voters in the zone, I wonder how they can recover to even pretend that they are candidates in this election talk less as NDC candidates, needless to say it will not affect the fortunes of the OK ticket in the zone because it is a deep-rooted grass-root movement with a follower-ship that is unassailable.
“On the first instance, I have always had my doubt that Sen Aisha is a serious contender for the governorship of Adamawa State. I suspect she is only playing a script to deny the ethnic nationalities of Adamawa State a platform on which to contest for the governorship ticket.
“This is a well-known script in the state. I have come to know that almost all the contestants in the 2027 election ( 25 House of Assy, 8 House of Rep, 3 Senators and herself as governorship candidate) were nominated by her and all their forms and expression of interests similarly paid for by her.
“So what is she afraid off? But I was in Adamawa State between 25 August and 10th September this year and saw no evidence of NDC activity in any of the 21 LGAs aside one tattered poster in Gombi belonging to a lady House of Rep candidate.
“Were this woman to be a normal politician that is capable of being in her right frame of mind for only five minutes per day, I would have thought might be even in those brief minutes celebrate my entry into the NDC because there is no doubt I have the reach and potential to increase her chances of victory at the polls by over 60%. Alas, we are not all the same and as the saying goes “common sense is not always common”.
“My advisers and I have discussed this press release have agreed, that what has driven her and these misguided collaborators to do this could be an alleged disposition to sabotage the impending landslide victory of the Obi/Kwankwaso ticket in the Zone which will inflict on their Kachalla Atiku such an overwhelming defeat in their home states and they are scared. They are sure I will block any nebulous plans they could hatch agains the OK ticket.
It is worth reminding Adamawa people that this has been the woman’s antecedent since her entry into politics. Immediately after joining the party, she returned to Adamawa and sought to replace all the founding executives of the party with her appointed cronies. Mercifully, the NDC NWC rejected her plans. All the same she has gone ahead and formed her own executive and has had no relationship whatsoever with the Nationally recognized official executive committee of the party.
“In the past she had done the same thing while she was in the APC and ADC both of which resulted in her abysmal failure and disgrace leading to her exit from the parties. So this trickery of hers is not new.
“I therefore call on all the NDC members and supporters in the North East to ignore all the antics of these fifth columnists and focus on the delivery of all our candidates to victory aside from those who voluntarily chose not to work with us. But those who choose to shoot themselves on the foot will only be the ones needing working crutches or sticks.
“It is worth reminding the so-called gubernatorial candidates that the campaigns will not be about them alone. There are House of Assembly, House of Representatives and the Senate seats in six states to contest for and all of them will reap immense benefits from the popularity of Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso in the elections.
“So it is the height of arrogance for six misguided individuals to arrogate themselves the right to decide who joins or leads the party. I stand to be corrected but it is my firm conviction that many of these candidates, especially those from Adamawa, Taraba, Gombe and Borno States will win their elections simply because I have joined the NDC and as a result of the influence, experience and resources that I will bring into the campaigns.
“We all know that Nigeria has no option to Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso as President and Vice President of the Country in the 2027.
“Therefore, we must all get ready to cast your votes, stay at the polling units to monitor as the ballot papers are being sorted and counted, recorded correctly on the result sheets, and then accompany the officials with the correct result sheets to the next collation centers until the final results are tallied and announced.
“So I urge every one to take his/her lunch box to the polling station on Election Day because we may not return home until past midnight.
“In this election, there will be no results alterations or the announcement of changes figures. So moles will be rendered redundant.”
