Babachir: Buhari Knew Tinubu’s Background Before APC Merger

Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, has claimed that the late former President Muhammadu Buhari had long-standing concerns about President Bola Tinubu’s background before the formation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) but still accepted his political support.

Lawal made the disclosure during an interview with Symfoni TV, released on Saturday.

According to him, Buhari had access to intelligence reports relating to Tinubu’s upbringing, genealogy and educational background before the APC merger that united major opposition parties ahead of the 2015 general election.

Lawal said Buhari occasionally expressed reservations about Tinubu after they came to power, but he consistently reminded the former president that those concerns had existed 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.

When asked about the nature of Buhari’s concerns, Lawal replied that they were the same issues often raised publicly.

“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,” he stated.

Lawal explained that he reminded Buhari that despite being aware of those issues before the APC merger, they still approached Tinubu for political support, which he said Tinubu gave wholeheartedly.

“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,” he added.

According to Lawal, he argued that it was morally wrong to later condemn someone whose support had been willingly accepted.

“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,” Lawal said.