Highly Immoral And Distasteful – Babachir Lawal Reveals Why Buhari Refused To Anoint Osinbajo As Presidential Candidate 

Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, has explained why he believes former President Muhammadu Buhari did not fully support his former Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, to succeed him in the 2023 presidential election.

Naija News reports that Lawal made this known during an interview with Symfoni TV.

According to the former SGF, Buhari’s personal values, his relationship with Bola Tinubu and his concerns about some of Osinbajo’s actions while serving as acting president may have contributed to the situation.

Lawal explained that if Buhari wanted his administration’s policies and achievements to continue after leaving office, supporting Osinbajo would have been a natural step, considering that he had served as vice president for eight years.

However, he suggested that some of Osinbajo’s decisions while acting as president may have created differences between the two men.

Lawal stated that Buhari was a person who placed a high value on loyalty and morality, adding that the former president might have considered it inappropriate for Osinbajo to contest against Tinubu for the presidency.

He said: “If Buhari was sick and this man was sacking his employees, he was doing things Buhari was not inclined to do, how can you say continue with his programme? It doesn’t exist. You must understand, people don’t believe me if I say this, because I’m very close to Buhari. It was like at one time, my father, I know him very well. He’s somebody that believes in loyalty. He’s somebody that does issues from the point of view of morality, high morality.

“Buhari would find it highly immoral, highly immoral. We didn’t discuss this with him, but he would find it very highly immoral for Osinbajo to contest the same position with Bola Tinubu. In his type of character, he will find it distasteful because he knew the relationship before. It’s the man who recommended him for president, and Bola wants it. So Buhari, by nature, will find it very distasteful, even if he believes that Osinbajo will be a better president or whatever, whatever. And the body language, again, I like to say I read marketing, so I know body language.

“Sixty per cent of communication is body language. Let me tell you something that happened. Buhari is aware that most of the appointments that Osinbajo would do were people from his church. Buhari was aware of this and he was not happy. I was the SGF at the beginning of the regime. The President had directed that all communications to him should pass through his Chief of Staff. I think it was Abba Kyari. Osinbajo had written a memo to the President requesting approval for his Chief of Staff. I think there were 28 or so people on the list.”