BREAKING: Tinubu Built APC, Bankrolled Buhari’s 2015 Campaign — Babachir Lawal Reveals

• Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, has claimed that President Bola Tinubu was instrumental in the creation of the APC financed major aspects of the 2015 presidential campaign that brought Muhammadu Buhari to power.

Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, has alleged that President Bola Tinubu played a central role in the formation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and funded significant parts of the 2015 presidential campaign that led to the election of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Lawal, who served under Buhari, made the claims during an interview on Symfoni TV released on Saturday.

According to him, Buhari initially asked him to facilitate negotiations for a merger between the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), which eventually became part of the APC coalition.

He said Buhari chose him for the task because of his close relationship with Tinubu.

“I was in Dubai when you called me that I should come out because we want to do a merger with the ACN. And I told you, sir, this role you want me to play, I cannot play it… So Buhari said, you are the only one that can help us do this merger because Bola is your friend,” Lawal said while recounting his conversation with the late former president.

Lawal explained that he initially resisted the assignment because of possible opposition from some northern political figures but later accepted after Buhari insisted.

The former SGF said Tinubu was willing to put aside his own presidential ambition at the time in order to prioritize defeating the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

According to Lawal, Tinubu told him: “BD, you know my ambition to be president. But the way the country is going, the primary goal is to get rid of PDP. I will defer my ambition, put it aside until we achieve this goal.”

He also described Tinubu’s role during the APC presidential convention, saying he helped secure crucial South-West support for Buhari after reviewing delegate numbers.

“I said, sir, look at it. I have this data… This man (Buhari), whether he is on the ballot or not, he normally gets 12 million votes from the north. So it required three more million votes… Sir, why not support your winning ticket?” Lawal recalled telling Tinubu.

According to him, Tinubu accepted the argument and persuaded other leaders to support Buhari.

“He (Tinubu) saw the logic, persuaded them with the argument. And coming from Tinubu, of course… So at the last minute, around 4 a.m., they agreed that they were going to support Buhari,” he said.

Lawal further claimed that Tinubu mobilized substantial financial resources for the campaign and separately funded the activities of former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who was Buhari’s running mate.

“Through him (Tinubu), we were able to raise sufficient funds to do the campaign.

“Not only did he do that, Osinbajo’s portion of the campaign, he funded it, hired a chartered plane to fund the trip because Osinbajo’s campaign was a little bit broken away from the main campaign,” Lawal said.

He added that Osinbajo operated somewhat independently because some Christian and ethnic groups were skeptical of Buhari at the time.

Lawal also alleged that Tinubu hired political consultants from the United States, whom he described as associates of former U.S. President Barack Obama, to improve the APC’s campaign strategy.

“Then I know of another place when he hired some consultants for us from the US, who were doing quite a lot of professional work.

“I don’t know their names. I just know that they were Obama people, and they came and they transformed our campaign, and I knew that the money he paid them was in excess of two billion naira equivalent in dollars,” he said.

According to Lawal, Tinubu often paid for major campaign expenses personally rather than drawing from the campaign’s central funds.

“And there’s another thing about Bola Tinubu: if there’s a need for an expenditure, no matter how massive, he doesn’t come to the campaign purse; he spends from his own purse,” he said.

The former SGF also described Tinubu as exceptionally generous before becoming president, claiming he had helped many people financially without expecting immediate returns.

“Bola has given some people a stupendous amount of money to help them out of crisis that I know first-hand, without expecting anything,” Lawal said.

However, he drew a sharp contrast between Tinubu’s past political role and his current administration, which he described as “a failure.”

“The people running the government don’t seem to be people who love the country. They are people who love themselves,” he said. “Everybody is bitter that life is tough.”

On Tinubu personally, Lawal added: “Suddenly, I don’t know what has happened, he has lost his soul… Having come to this government, he has lost his soul.”