Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, has declared that elected officials in northern Nigeria, including governors, will not retain their positions in the 2027 general elections unless they defect from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the opposition coalition, African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Speaking during an interview on Trust TV, Lawal accused the APC of marginalising the North and failing to deliver meaningful development, warning that political survival in the region now hinges on embracing an alternative political platform.
“Which northern elected official will go to campaign on the platform of the APC in this coming election? Nobody. Unless, ab initio, you have no plan to win the election. I can’t see anywhere,” Lawal said.
He further declared: “Unless they join the ADC, they will not win — simply because they belong to a destructive party. A party that has woefully failed to perform.”
According to the former SGF, consultations are already ongoing between the ADC and several northern governors who are considering a defection ahead of the 2027 elections.
Echoing recent criticisms by former Kano State Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Lawal accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of deliberately neglecting northern Nigeria in infrastructure and development projects.
“Every Nigerian that has anything to do with the North will know that no infrastructure work is going on at any level. No projects are ongoing — at least none are visible to the eye. Maybe they exist in imagination or in spirit, but we don’t see them,” he stated.
Lawal, who shares a technical background with Kwankwaso, insisted that their observations are grounded in professional assessment, not political rhetoric.
Kwankwaso had previously accused the Tinubu administration of concentrating national resources in the South to the detriment of the North. Lawal’s comments appear to reinforce growing sentiments of regional discontent with the federal government’s development priorities.
As Nigeria heads toward the 2027 general elections, the growing wave of defections and realignments in the North could significantly reshape the country’s political landscape.
Comments