ADC Responds to Babachir's Claim About Atiku's Chances

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has rejected Babachir Lawal's prediction that its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, will lose the 2027 election. They called his statement a personal wish rather than a fact-based claim.

Chille Igbawua, Special Adviser to the ADC National Chairman on Research, Policy and Strategy, spoke about this in an interview on ARISE NEWS on Tuesday. He reacted to Lawal’s comments that Atiku has no chance of winning the next presidential election.

Lawal, in an interview with Symfoni TV, said a joint presidential ticket of Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso would have a 70 percent chance to win the 2027 election. He suggested that President Bola Tinubu would have a 50 percent chance, while Atiku would score “zero.”

He added, “Definitely, Atiku will lose. He will, and I pray he loses.”

Igbawua responded by saying Lawal’s prediction lacks any real evidence or analysis. “I think the statement that this projection need not be commented upon is a right one. When you just say you are praying, as a matter of prayer, everyone has a right to pray, he said, ‘I pray he loses. He will surely lose. I pray he loses.’ That is not a scientific approach to a projection that you can argue against.

“So it becomes difficult to argue against a person who has no basis for making a projection,” he explained.

He emphasized that the ADC is more focused on building a strong electoral platform instead of making speculative claims. “I believe that ADC has its programmes well set out. I believe that we have one of the best manifestos of any political party in Nigeria at the moment. We have a clear-cut policy document that we are going to work on. Our goal has always been, to rescue Nigeria from the drift that we are witnessing continually.

“We are working on what it takes to win an election. So when we speak about winning, we’re not speaking just rhetorics; we’re speaking from the work and the analysis we’re doing,” he noted.

When asked about Peter Obi’s departure from the ADC, Igbawua clarified that the former Anambra State governor was not part of the opposition coalition that later chose the ADC. He insisted that Obi joined only after the coalition had finished its consultations and selected the ADC as its platform.

“The project started long, long before Peter Obi came in. Let us not make the mistake of thinking that Peter Obi was part of this opposition coalition movement that transmuted into the ADC, he was not. He only came in December last year, 31st of December last year, after everything had been done, and we had gone through all the processes of what we needed to do,” he said.

Igbawua defended the ADC’s presidential primary process against claims that it was flawed. He said it followed the party’s constitution, the Electoral Act, and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. “I do not insist that this was the cleanest primaries that ever held, but I also agree that there is no political party that has subjected itself to the processes that we did. Certainly, Labour Party did not; APC did not. They simply just selected candidates,” he stated.

In response to Lawal’s claim that an Obi-Kwankwaso ticket would do better than Atiku, Igbawua argued that comparing the strength of two politicians against Atiku alone is misleading. He said any fair comparison should also consider Atiku’s running mate.

“Remember that Rotimi Amaechi contested presidency under APC and came second, so he’s not a push-over either. So if you put a ticket, you must also count the ticket as two people coming together.

“I believe that it is absolutely faulty to suggest that an Obi-Kwankwaso ticket is stronger than an Atiku-Rotimi Amaechi ticket. Certainly not,” he insisted.

Igbawua also defended Atiku’s political standing, noting that the former vice president had previously outperformed both Obi and Kwankwaso in a presidential election. “Yes, he has good standing. Certainly. They’ve contested against one another in the past and he came out top,” he said.

On the topic of fuel subsidy, Igbawua stated that the ADC does not oppose its removal but criticized the Federal Government for not being open about the management of the savings. “The issue is that fuel subsidy had been removed. Nobody argued against it… But how you do it is what matters.

“This government has not accounted for the outcomes or the dividends of fuel subsidy removal… I don’t object to fuel subsidy removal… But the management of resources arising from the fuel subsidy is what the cry is about,” he said.

He added that the ADC will reveal more details about its policy agenda soon, focusing on youth involvement, women's participation in governance, security, and achieving measurable outcomes in government.