Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Babachir Lawal, has claimed that late former President Muhammadu Buhari had longstanding concerns about President Bola Tinubu’s background despite accepting his political support during the formation of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Lawal made the disclosure during an interview with Symfoni TV released on Saturday.
According to him, Buhari had access to intelligence reports concerning Tinubu’s upbringing, genealogy and educational background even before the APC merger that brought both men together politically.
He said Buhari occasionally raised complaints about Tinubu, but he would remind the former president that those issues were already known before they sought Tinubu’s support.
“So anytime Buhari would complain about the man (Tinubu), I bring up the history and Buhari, being a man of conscience, would agree,” Lawal said.
Asked about Buhari’s specific complaints, Lawal replied: “The complaints everybody has. Buhari was a president before he became another president. He had access to intelligence about Tinubu’s upbringing, about his lack of clear genealogy, his education.
“He knew everything, and that’s one of the things I used against Buhari.”
Lawal said he reminded Buhari that despite knowing those issues before the APC merger, they still approached Tinubu for political support, which he gave “wholeheartedly.”
According to him, “I said, sir, before we went into this merger, before we went into looking for his support before the merger. We knew these things, don’t you?
“Buhari would say he does. I say okay. So, but yet we asked for his support, and he gave it to us wholeheartedly, along with other things. So how come now suddenly he has become evil?”
Lawal added that he told Buhari it was morally wrong to turn against someone whose support had been accepted despite existing concerns.
“I don’t think it’s Islamic, but certainly for me as a Christian, it’s unChristian like to bite the finger that fed you.
“At the point you were looking for his support, you knew this. You should have said, ‘I don’t want the support of a crook,’ but you didn’t. So Buhari said yes, thank you, and changed,” he said.
‘He had access to intelligence’ – Babachir Lawal reveals Buhari’s complaints against Tinubu
Vanguard Nigeria
Business Day
Daily Post