Quick Summary: Buharis Secret Pact : Lawal Reveals Concerns Over Tinubu Before APC Primary
- Babachir Lawal claims Buhari privately resisted Tinubu’s rise before the 2022 APC primary, fearing Tinubu would secure the ticket.
- Lawal negotiated a neutrality pact with Buhari, who ultimately agreed to stand aside despite misgivings about Tinubu’s background.
- Lawal suggests Buhari’s reservations were tied to Tinubu’s upbringing and education, but Tinubu’s political value was too significant to ignore.
- Lawal argues that only a united opposition can challenge Tinubu in 2027, suggesting a potential Obi-Kwankwaso alliance.
- The controversy highlights internal APC distrust and pressures opposition figures to consolidate their efforts.
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In a political bombshell, Babachir Lawal has claimed that former President Muhammadu Buhari had serious reservations about Bola Tinubu’s rise to power during the 2022 APC primary. According to Lawal, Buhari feared Tinubu would secure the presidential ticket, a concern that led to a secret neutrality pact.
Lawal’s revelations paint a picture of a reluctant Buhari, who, despite his misgivings about Tinubu’s background, felt compelled to stand aside due to Tinubu’s significant political influence. The allegations suggest Buhari’s concerns were not just political but also personal, rooted in Tinubu’s upbringing and education.
This controversy comes at a critical time as Nigeria’s political landscape braces for the 2027 elections. Lawal’s call for a united opposition, potentially led by an Obi-Kwankwaso ticket, underscores the urgency for consolidation against Tinubu’s influence. The stakes are high, and the opposition’s response could reshape the political future.
Lawal’s claims also expose deep-seated distrust within the APC, raising questions about the integrity of past power transitions. As the political drama unfolds, all eyes are on Tinubu’s camp and opposition figures to see how they respond to these explosive allegations.
He said Buhari “normally gets 12 million votes from the North” and needed “three more million votes,” which is how he persuaded Tinubu to align the South-West behind Buhari at the 2014 APC convention. The most important new revelation is not simply that Buhari had “misgivings,” but that Lawal says he personally negotiated a neutrality pact with the late president ahead of the June 2022 APC convention.
” He added, “Individually will be a disaster, but I’m pairing them,” turning what might have been a retrospective anecdote about 2022 into an intervention in the live struggle over who should lead the anti-Tinubu coalition in 2027. Lawal, a former Buhari insider who broke with the APC over the Muslim-Muslim ticket in 2023 and later backed Obi, is effectively saying Buhari mistrusted Tinubu, Tinubu nevertheless earned the ticket, and the opposition still cannot beat him unless it settles on one candidate.
There is also a second-layer allegation circulating in follow-up reporting from July 26 that sharpens the controversy further: Lawal said Buhari had access to intelligence files and complained about Tinubu’s “upbringing and education” and “genealogy,” but accepted his support because Tinubu was too politically valuable to discard. ” The report is also newsworthy because Lawal ties that conflict directly to current 2027 opposition maneuvering.
Punch published the main interview report on July 26, 2026, and same-day or next-day follow-up stories amplified the more incendiary parts about Buhari’s private complaints and Lawal’s 2027 electoral math. Babachir Lawal’s fresh claim is that Muhammadu Buhari privately resisted Bola Tinubu’s rise before the 2022 APC primary because he feared, in Lawal’s words, that “if I leave him to you, he’ll get the ticket,” a remark that turns a long-rumored political tension into a direct, on-record accusation published by Punch on July 26, 2026.
The key historical dates embedded in the new reporting are the June 2022 APC presidential primary, where Buhari allegedly stayed neutral under this “deal,” and May 29, 2023, when Tinubu was inaugurated after winning the presidency. According to Lawal, Buhari did not want to “hand over to this man” because of “your religion and your ethics and your upbringing,” yet ultimately agreed to stand aside after Lawal argued that Tinubu had “helped us get here” and should not be blocked by presidential fiat.
This controversy comes at a critical time as Nigeria’s political landscape braces for the 2027 elections. Punch published the main interview report on July 26, 2026, and same-day or next-day follow-up stories amplified the more incendiary parts about Buhari’s private complaints and Lawal’s 2027 electoral math.
Babachir Lawal’s fresh claim is that Muhammadu Buhari privately resisted Bola Tinubu’s rise before the 2022 APC primary because he feared, in Lawal’s words, that “if I leave him to you, he’ll get the ticket,” a remark that turns a long-rumored political tension into a direct, on-record accusation published by Punch on July 26, 2026. Lawal negotiated a neutrality pact with Buhari, who ultimately agreed to stand aside despite misgivings about Tinubu’s background.
The scale and speed of this development has caught many observers off guard. Each new update adds another dimension to a story that is still unfolding, and the full picture will only become clear as more verified details emerge from the people and institutions directly involved.
Analysts who have tracked this issue closely say the current moment represents a genuine turning point. The decisions made in the coming weeks are expected to set the direction for months ahead, with ripple effects likely to extend well beyond the immediate actors in the story.
For those directly affected, the practical impact is already visible. People navigating this fast-changing situation are dealing with real consequences while new information continues to reshape what is known and what remains open to interpretation.
Historical parallels offer some context, though experts caution against drawing too close a comparison. Similar situations have played out before, but the specific combination of pressures, personalities, and timing here makes this moment distinct in ways that matter for how it ultimately resolves.
The political and economic dimensions of this story are deeply intertwined. What appears as a single event on the surface is in practice the convergence of multiple pressures that have been building quietly over a longer period than most public reporting has captured.