We don’t need Buhari blessing. We only needed to tell him what we wanted to do because we were adults
Babachir Lawal, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, has stated that those individuals who are attempting to win the favor of former President Muhammadu Buhari, such as supporters of President Bola Tinubu and certain chieftains of the then-defunct Congress for Progressive Change, are “busy chasing shadows.” In an exclusive interview with Punch, Lawal made this statement.
He also insisted that every genuine CPC chieftain who has the interest of the Talakawas, who are the poor and vulnerable, at heart will do whatever it takes to “kick out any government that brings pain and impoverishment to the people like the Tinubu administration” in the year 2027.
Babachir Lawal said, “These guys have given us a reason to come against them because the CPC is a Talakawa Movement. It’s a movement that has at heart the needs and feelings of the lower class. That is our ideology, which we learned from Buhari.
“The primary aim is how to serve the disenfranchised, discriminated people in the society, which this government has taken as a religion to cause suffering and marginalisation. It is as if the sight of a poor person annoys them. So they want to starve them to death.
“Now if you are an original CPC person, it will pain you. It will push you into action involuntarily to change this type of system that is out to destroy and marginalise the underprivileged in society. That is what Buhari stands for. That is who we are and what we learned from him.”
Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai asserted that President Buhari had given his approval to the coalition, but Lawal rebutted this implication when he was asked about it.
He said, “First of all, we don’t need his (Buhari) blessing. We only needed to tell him what we wanted to do because we were adults. It is also not like we will go and tell Buhari to follow us. Of course, we are mature and intelligent people.
“Even if Buhari says, hey, gentlemen, I will join you. It is our responsibility to say, No, Oga please keep off. You are too big for us. We don’t want to involve you. You are part of this government. Please remain there until you are fed up.”
One of the most important stakeholders in the coalition that is currently being formed by Atiku, Obi, and El-Rufai is Lawal, who was a founding member of the disbanded CPC and a former supporter of Tinubu. He was adamant that the opposition alliance and the proposed merging of parties had already been finalized.
He said, “We understand ‘these people’ and the APC governors went to greet him on Sallah. I was not there when they were talking but we eventually found out what they went there to say. And, of course, we know how to handle it.”