Babachir Lawal NDC membership was announced on Tuesday after the former SGF quit the ADC over Atiku Abubakar’s candidacy
Babachir Lawal, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, defected to the Nigeria Democratic Congress on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, after a meeting with Senator Seriake Dickson, the party’s national leader, at the senator’s home in Abuja.
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He had resigned from the African Democratic Congress on 1 June when Atiku Abubakar emerged as that party’s presidential candidate.
He had said he would back the Obi-Kwankwaso ticket if he returned from a sabbatical. He also supported Peter Obi on the Labour Party ticket in 2023.
After he was received into the NDC, he framed the move as a duty rather than a bargain.
“Anybody in Nigeria who has the interest of our country at heart and sympathy for the suffering that is ongoing in our country, along with insecurity, hunger, ignorance and disease, will have no choice but to join a party that represents the future and have Peter and Kwankwaso as their candidates,” he said.
“Every sensible and patriotic Nigerian ought to understand this. It is now convincing to partner with the NDC to see to the fulfilment of the very noble objective of installing Obi as the president and Kwankwaso as vice president.”
He looked ahead to 29 May 2027, the date set for the next presidential inauguration.
“So, by the grace of God, we look forward to May 29, 2027, to celebrate the feat properly for the good of the country, and future of generations yet unborn.”
Neither Atiku Abubakar nor the ADC had, in the immediate reporting of the meeting, issued a reply.
The defection adds a former cabinet secretary to the NDC column and underlines the split that followed Atiku Abubakar’s emergence in the ADC.
Also read: Amadi Says Igbo Presidency Must Rest on Dignity
It does not, by itself, settle the 2027 race. It does show where Babachir Lawal now wants his name read: with Peter Obi and Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.
