Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, has claimed that President Bola Tinubu played a decisive role in securing Muhammadu Buhari’s victory at the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primary in 2014.
Speaking on the political events leading to the landmark convention, Lawal said Buhari initially faced an uphill battle as key blocs within the party had aligned behind other presidential aspirants. According to him, the North-West was backing former Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, while the South-East supported former Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha, who he said appeared well-positioned to clinch the party’s ticket.
Lawal explained that efforts to persuade influential party figures, including former Adamawa State Governor Murtala Nyako and former Sokoto State Governor Aliyu Wamakko, to support Buhari yielded little success. He said the turning point came after he and others met Tinubu late at night and presented him with data highlighting Buhari’s electoral strength across northern Nigeria.
According to Lawal, Tinubu immediately swung into action, meeting Nyako and Wamakko to convince them to rally behind Buhari, a move he said secured the crucial North-West votes for the former military ruler.
“That night, Bola Tinubu did not sleep. He went back to Governor Nyako and Governor Wamakko and persuaded them to support Buhari. That was when we got the North-West votes back for Buhari,” Lawal said.
He added that Buhari eventually entered the convention with the backing of both the North-West and the South-West, while votes cast for other contenders were divided, paving the way for his emergence as the APC presidential candidate.
Lawal also disclosed that he frequently reminded Buhari of Tinubu’s contribution whenever concerns were raised about the former Lagos State governor’s background or educational history.
According to him, Buhari had access to files containing allegations about Tinubu but was persuaded to overlook them, having already benefited from Tinubu’s political support.
“I told Buhari, ‘You knew all this when you asked for his support, and he gave it to us. So why bite the finger that fed us?’ Buhari agreed and changed,” Lawal said.
The former SGF maintained that he was among those with firsthand knowledge of Tinubu’s role in facilitating Buhari’s path to the presidency and ensured the former president never lost sight of that contribution.
