Tinubu’s Media Aide Slams Babachir Lawal Over Remarks On 2023 Election

The Special Adviser on Media and Public Communication to President Bola Tinubu, Bayo Onanuga, has criticised former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, over recent comments attacking the president.

In a Channels Television interview, Lawal claimed that Labour Party’s Peter Obi, not Tinubu, won the 2023 presidential election. He also said he had ended his friendship with Tinubu, accusing the president of being “too full of himself,” and vowed never to accept any appointment from the current administration, citing a lack of belief in its leadership.

Reacting in a statement posted on his X account, Onanuga described Lawal as “the latest political content creator and self-styled soothsayer gasping for political oxygen.” He accused the former SGF of granting multiple provocative and unfounded interviews aimed at attacking the president, adding that his recent appearance on Channels Television reflected “incoherence and desperation” more than any of his past remarks.

Onanuga maintained that Lawal’s claims were baseless and politically motivated.

‘’That outing revealed a deeply troubled soul, slowly unraveling even if wildly swinging in all directions, wearing ideological inconsistency like a badge of honor.

It was obvious that the entire performance on Channels was nothing more than a poorly scripted attempt to bait President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. This is the same man Babachir once swore the “wrath of God” should fall upon anyone who stood in Tinubu’s way to the presidency.

Today, he casually flings insults at that very man, calling him names, disrespecting his office and making derogatory references. That says everything about Babachir’s character and upbringing a fair-weather friend, an opportunist, clout chaser and clay footed political crusader.

Babachir Lawal, please look in the mirror. Your account of events wobbles and is not the only one.  Those who watch closely are only tolerating your flight of fancy for now. This indulgence will not last forever. Throw your tantrums if you must, but know when to stop short of denigrating the office and person of the President.

Your claim that Peter Obi “won” the 2023 elections is not only egregious but a barefaced lie. The people have spoken, the law has sanctioned it; the courts have ruled. On that matter, let all else remain silent. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu won the 2023 count fair and square and remains Nigeira’s duly elected President until 2027. For now, face forward.’

Now to your bizarre psychoanalysis: “The problem with Bola Tinubu is that he thinks I offended him… .He’s full of himself… because he thinks he’s the so-called president.” Wake up. Smell the coffee. Bola Tinubu  is Nigeria’s indisputable elected  President.

And in what way exactly did President Tinubu “offend” you? Because you wanted to be vice president and President Tinubu went for a better, more qualified and more refined candidate.

Importantly, if putting Nigeria’s economy back on track is an offense in your book, then yes, that’s the other possible way Tinubu could have “offended” you.

Your choice of words “so-called president” is not only uncouth but a disgraceful denigration of the very office you once served as Secretary to the Government of the Federation. Have you forgotten the dignity that comes with that office?

Your descent into playing ethnic politics exposes your narrow mindedness and the threat your likes can pose to national unity.

You also declared you “would have been sacked” in a Tinubu administration. Instructively, you were sacked but under President Buhari’s government, not Tinubu’s. You claim you would have resigned if you were part of this administration.

The truth? Whether under Tinubu, Buhari, or even your preferred Peter Obi (who still perches on the wings of mere “desperation” or is it aspiration), your overinflated sense of self-importance would have led to the same outcome: a quick exit.

Your arrogance is not new. Was it not you, in 2017, who on hearing of your sack as SGF scoffed, “Who is the Presidency?” — as though the presidency were a one-man office, and no one could remove you without your own permission? Such hubris then, such hubris now.

Babachir Lawal, these televised monologues do not make you relevant. They merely remind Nigerians why you are no longer in office and fast sinking into political and community oblivion. It is not too late to retrace your steps!