NDC Crisis Deepens: Babachir Lawal Accuses Binani Of Backing Atiku As North East Governorships Candidates Reject His Leadership
Reloaded News Desk
The crisis within the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has deepened after former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, accused the party’s Adamawa governorship candidate, Senator Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed, popularly known as Binani, of working for the presidential ambition of African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate Atiku Abubakar.
Lawal made the allegation in a Facebook post, shortly after six NDC governorship candidates in the North-East rejected his appointment as the party’s leader in the region.
The six candidates from Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe had in a joint statement said they would not recognise Lawal in the position, describing their decision as “collective, firm and final.”
They argued that the appointment was made without consultation with them and other stakeholders involved in building the party’s structures across the region.
Reacting to the development, Lawal alleged that the protest was organised by Binani, whom he described as a “female pretender to the governorship candidacy of Adamawa State.”
He further claimed that he had information indicating that Binani was supporting Atiku rather than the NDC presidential ticket of Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso.
Lawal said his joining the NDC had created problems for what he described as individuals working against the party’s presidential ticket from within.
“I know that my joining the NDC at this stage poses a major threat to those working for Atiku from within the NDC as subversives of the Peter/Kwankwaso ticket,” Lawal said in the statement.
He also said the NDC governorship candidates in Gombe and Taraba States had contacted him to dissociate themselves from the statement rejecting his appointment.
However, the joint statement published by multiple news organisations was signed by all six North-East governorship candidates, including the candidates from Gombe and Taraba. The candidates’ publicly stated position was that they did not recognise Lawal as the party’s North-East leader.
Lawal said he considered the dispute a matter for the national leadership of the NDC, which recruited him into the party and assigned him the regional leadership role.
He also stated that he had neither requested the position nor received a formal offer before the announcement was made, saying he accepted it as a mark of respect to NDC leaders Henry Seriake Dickson, Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso.
The latest dispute adds another layer to the political tensions surrounding the NDC’s organisation in the North-East, particularly in Adamawa, where Lawal and Binani had previously been on opposing sides of internal disputes within the ADC. Binani later joined the NDC alongside Obi, Kwankwaso and other opposition figures.
As of the latest reports reviewed by Reloaded News, there was no independently verified statement from Binani confirming Lawal’s allegation that she is backing Atiku for the 2027 presidency.
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