The chairman of the the Electoral Committee of the Adamawa State chapter of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Dr. Nicholas Msheliza, has asked the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, to bury his face in shame over his attempt to influence and alter the outcome of the party’s recent presidential primary in the state.
Msheliza warned that should Babachir Lawal go further to spew more tissues of lies, he would be left with no option than to release evidence to support his claims against the former SGF.
Msheliza, who was also the Returning Officer for the Adamawa primaries, emphatically said that Lawal personally contacted him after results were compiled and demanded that he reverse the outcome in Hong Local Government Area in favour of one of the presidential aspirants and businessman, Mohammed Hayatu-Deen over former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
He said that he vehemently rejected Lawal’s request and , insisted that the results reflected the actual votes cast.
In the words of Msheliza; “When Babachir Lawal got wind of the results, he called and requested that I reverse the results to favour his candidate. I refused to carry out his criminal directive.
“Atiku won Hong LGA with 11,991 votes, while Hayatu-Deen polled 2,493 votes and former Minister Rotimi Amaechi got 377 votes,” he said.
Msheliza further said that following his refusal to manipulate the result, Lawal immediately announced the dissolution of the local electoral committee and set up a parallel structure that conducted what he described as an “illegal exercise” across several Local Government Areas, including Hong, Madagali, Michika and Mubi North.
Msheliza further said that the move produced “concocted results” which contradicted the official tally already recorded by the original committee.
He further said; “This was done without consultation and without needed and required electoral materials. The original results had already been documented before the parallel team arrived”.
The Returning Officer therefore challenged Lawal to release his own result sheets for public comparison with the official records, stressing that he was prepared to present documentary evidence to back his account.
Mesheliza assured to issue a further detailed statement with documentary proof of interference and manipulative attempts by Lawal during the ADC primary.
The former SGF, Babachir Lawal had announced his resignation from the ADC citing irregularities in the conduct of the party’s primaries and specifically accused former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of manipulating the presidential primary in his favour.
However, opposition figures and key stakeholders dismissed Lawal’s claims, insisting that he was playing the game of the All Progressives Congress aimed at destabilising the ADC.
