Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, has declared that northern politicians, including sitting governors, will struggle to secure re-election in 2027 if they remain in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). He urged them to consider defecting to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), which he described as a viable alternative ahead of the next polls.
Speaking on Trust TV’s Sunday Politics, Lawal criticised the APC for failing to deliver on its promises to the North, saying the party has alienated its own supporters.
“Which northern elected official will campaign on the platform of the APC in the coming election? Nobody. Unless you have no plan to win an election, I can’t see anywhere,” he said.
Pressed on whether this applied to governors seeking re-election, he responded:
“Unless they join the ADC, they will not win — simply because they belong to a destructive party that has woefully failed to perform.”
‘North left behind under Tinubu’
Lawal also endorsed former Kano State governor Rabiu Kwankwaso’s criticism of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, alleging that the North has been deliberately sidelined in terms of federal infrastructure and development projects.
“Every Nigerian that has anything to do with the North knows that no infrastructure work is going on at any level,” Lawal stated.
“No projects are going on — at least not visibly. Maybe in their imagination, but we don’t see any construction work or federal government project.”
He argued that both he and Kwankwaso, as engineers, have the technical expertise to assess the absence of tangible development. “Kwankwaso knows what he’s talking about. Every sensible Nigerian can see that the North is being marginalised,” Lawal said.
He went further to accuse the administration of trying to undo existing progress:
“The sense we get as northerners is that if this government can destroy what they inherited, they’ll willingly do it. That’s the feeling we have from this government.”
Federal government pushes back
Kwankwaso’s claims of neglect have been strongly disputed by senior government officials. Minister of Works, David Umahi, dismissed the criticism as “misleading,” pointing out that 52 percent of Tinubu’s flagship road projects are in northern Nigeria. This includes a 756km stretch of the Sokoto–Badagry superhighway that runs through the region.
Supporting Umahi, presidential media aide Sunday Dare insisted that more than 40 key projects and programmes are ongoing across the North, accusing critics of playing politics with development.
ADC courts northern defectors
Lawal maintained that many northern politicians will be forced to dump the APC for the ADC as 2027 approaches. He confirmed that the party has opened talks with some governors and other political leaders.
“Most northern governors will have to join the ADC if they intend to contest in 2027,” he said. “The APC has become a destructive party with no plan for the North or for Nigeria.”
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