Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Babachir Lawal, has claimed that President Bola Tinubu personally financed the vice-presidential campaign of former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo during the 2015 general election and spent more than N2 billion to hire political consultants linked to former United States President Barack Obama.

Lawal made the claims during an interview with Symfoni TV released on Saturday while recounting Tinubu’s contributions to the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential campaign that brought late former President Muhammadu Buhari to power.

According to him, Tinubu mobilised substantial funds for the campaign and separately financed Osinbajo’s campaign activities because they operated somewhat independently of the main Buhari campaign.

“Through him (Tinubu), we were able to raise sufficient funds to do the campaign.

“Not only did he do that, Osibanjo’s portion of the campaign, he funded it, hired a chair to funded the trip because our Osibanjo’s campaign was a little bit broken away from the main campaign.

“Osibanjo on his own was a pastor, his ethnic nationalities and Christians had some doubts about Buhari. He was on that side.

“He wasn’t on our own area, and he was just doing sort of semi-independent of the main campaign. Tinubu was funding it,” Lawal said.

The former SGF further alleged that Tinubu engaged political consultants from the United States, whom he described as associates of former President Obama, to strengthen the APC’s campaign strategy.

“Then I know of another place when he hired some consultants for us from the US, who were doing quite a lot of professional work.

“I don’t know their names. I just know that they were Obama people, and they came and they transformed our campaign, and I knew that the money he paid them was in excess of two billion naira equivalent of dollars,” he said.

Lawal also claimed that Tinubu personally bore the cost of major campaign expenditures instead of drawing from the campaign’s central funds.

“And there’s another thing about Bola Tinubu: if there’s a need for an expenditure, no matter how massive, he doesn’t come to the campaign purse; he spends from his own purse.

“All these things I told you. Some people don’t know this, but I was there, and I knew this. And he did all these things,” he added.

The Director of Abuja School of Social and Political Thoughts, Sam Amadi, has declared that the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, presidential candidate, Peter Obi’s supporters would be the most reliable voters in 2027.

Amadi said Obidient Movement and OK Movement may be in crisis but not Obi’s supporters because they are reliable.

Posting on X, Amadi wrote: “Obidient movement may be in crisis, OK movement may be in crisis. NDC may be in crisis.

“But most @PeterObi voters are not in crisis. They will be the most reliable voters in 2027.

“Actually apart from @OfficialAPCNg there is no truly organized political party in Nigeria.

“APC is fairly stable because it is in power to share patronage. Even at that, it is in a serious crisis as it will unfold close to the election.

“Nigeria is a massive crisis, nothing new. We wait to see how these crises play out in 2027.

“We need a strong political movement beyond all these to save Nigeria. Hopefully after 2027 the real work begins.”

Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Babachir Lawal, has alleged that President Bola Tinubu has “lost his soul” since assuming office, saying the president is no longer the person he once knew.

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

He described Tinubu as a generous politician who had, in the past, provided substantial financial assistance to people in need without immediately expecting anything in return.

According to him, Tinubu possessed a unique ability to identify individuals who could become politically useful to him in the future and often supported them during difficult times.

“So at that stage, he (Tinubu) is somebody you can trust. He’s somebody you can like.

“Bola Tinubu has given some people stupendous amount of money to help them out of crisis that I know firsthand, without expecting ordinarily for you, without expecting anything,” Lawal said.

He added that Tinubu appeared to have an instinct for investing in relationships that would later yield political benefits.

“But you see, the thing with Bola Tinubu is that he has a gift. I think it has to be a gift from God. He can see in you a future returns for himself in advance, sort of like prophetically, like if I help ‘Wale’ out of this, in five years’ time, Wale will do things for me.

“And that type of help he will give you is what can stupefy you. He does things like that. A good man at that time, you know, when in trouble.”

However, Lawal said the president had changed since taking office.

“But suddenly I don’t know what has happened. He has lost his soul.

“Yes, he has lost his soul. Having come to this government, he has lost his soul. Because he’s somebody that is in charge all the time, but suddenly it looks like he’s no more in charge.

“As long as he gets his own share of whatever he says he’s looking for, the rest they can loot it and do whatever they want to do with it,” he said.

The former SGF further claimed that many people who knew Tinubu before he became president no longer recognized his leadership style.

“It happens to every president, but in his own, it is a calamity. Everybody will tell you the Bola we knew is not Bola we see now, where we don’t see him again anymore anywhere.

“I wish he could go back to what he was before so that Nigeria would be great,” he added.