Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has rejected allegations by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, that the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential primary was manipulated in his favour.

In a statement released on Tuesday by his media aide, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said Lawal had failed to provide any evidence to support the claims, describing the allegations as speculation without evidence and “an unfortunate cocktail of bitterness, conjecture, and political revisionism masquerading as public interest.”

“Mr Lawal spent nearly an hour making grave accusations about the conduct of the ADC presidential primary. Yet he failed to produce a single piece of verifiable evidence,” the statement said.

“No document. No petition. No result sheet. No witness statement. No recording. Nothing.”

The ADC presidential candidate argued that Lawal’s comments were driven by disappointment after his preferred candidate lost the primary.

“What the interview ultimately revealed was not a whistleblower exposing wrongdoing but a disappointed political actor struggling to come to terms with the failure of his preferred candidate,” Atiku said.

He added that Lawal had openly supported another aspirant before the primary and was now trying to present his disappointment as a moral concern.

Atiku also dismissed claims that he influenced the outcome of the primary across the country, saying it was unrealistic to suggest he controlled the votes of thousands of party members nationwide.

He further criticised Lawal’s recent remark that he could easily obtain financial assistance from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu if needed.

“More revealing, however, was Mr Lawal’s astonishing confession on national television that if he ever needed money, all he had to do was call President Tinubu and the money would reach him before he got home,” Atiku said.

He said Nigerians have heard and seen him, and they can draw their own conclusions from the implications of such a remarkable declaration.

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has criticised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for deciding to appeal court rulings that struck out parts of its timetable for the 2027 general elections.

Speaking after a meeting between INEC and leaders of registered political parties in Abuja on Tuesday, SDP National Chairman, Prof. Sadiq Gombe, said the commission should not challenge the judgments because they would give political parties and candidates more time to prepare for elections.

Gombe said, “INEC has no right to appeal the ruling because of the timing of the election and so on.”

He added that the judgments would create more opportunities for campaigns and allow candidates who lost party primaries to still exercise their political rights.

While insisting that INEC was free to pursue the appeal, he said, “We don’t feel there is any need for INEC to appeal that. But it also has the right to.”

On the party’s leadership crisis, Gombe said the SDP remained open to reconciliation with members of the rival faction led by former National Chairman Shehu Musa Gabam.

According to him, the party’s constitution provides room for discipline and reconciliation.

Gombe also maintained that leadership disputes are internal matters for political parties and not for INEC to decide. He said, “INEC doesn’t determine who should be the chairman of a political party. It is the party itself.”

His comments came after INEC announced it had appealed two Federal High Court judgments that questioned aspects of its 2027 election timetable.

The electoral body said it was seeking clarification on important legal issues, warning that changes to the timetable could affect the smooth planning and conduct of elections.

Derecognized factional National Chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure, has said he will continue to criticise former presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi and Abia State Governor Alex Otti over their alleged roles in the party’s lingering leadership crisis.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday, Abure accused Obi and Otti of disrupting the peace that previously existed within the party.

According to him, the crisis began when both leaders allegedly established what he described as an illegal caretaker committee in Umuahia, which he said had become a major challenge to the party’s leadership.

Abure maintained that discussions about the Labour Party crisis would inevitably involve Obi and Otti because of what he described as their central role in the dispute.

He further alleged that the Labour Party was stable before Obi joined the party, adding that the former Anambra State governor contributed to the internal crisis before leaving for the National Democratic Coalition, NDC.

The Labour Party chieftain also claimed that Obi and his allies were creating similar challenges within the NDC, advising the coalition’s leadership to remain vigilant.

Abure said: “Now, let me, let me put it very clearly. Governor Alex Otti and Peter Obi destabilised the tranquillity of the party.

“You will recall that the party was running smoothly without major disagreement in the party. It was Peter Obi and Alex Otti who went to Umuahia to set up this illegal caretaker committee that have become an albatross to the leadership of the party.

“Therefore, because the crisis is still lingering, we cannot stop talking about it because each time you talk about the crisis in the Labour Party, the names that feature prominently is Peter Obi and Alex Otti.

“They are the cause of the crisis in the party, and that’s why we have continued to talk about it, not until the crisis in the party is finally resolved and dusted. We cannot stop talking about it.

“After refusing to allow us have peace and tranquillity in the Labour Party, before he joined the Labour Party, the Labour Party was peaceful. There was no crisis in the party. He created crisis in the party and left for NDC.

“And now let me put it this way, the same way they created crisis in the Labour Party is the same way they are creating crisis in the NDC. That’s why I have only just said that the NDC leadership should be aware. I’m happy that they are gradually taming them and gradually controlling them, so that they will have peace in that party.

“There is nothing wrong in giving advice to other leaders of other political party. After all, we are looking forward to having a Nigeria that works. We are working towards having good governance in the country, and therefore it is our responsibility as a participator in this process to continue to give advice even to government, to other political parties, and to even government agencies. There is nothing wrong.”