Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Babachir Lawal, has claimed that President Bola Tinubu was afraid of late former President Muhammadu Buhari and became depressed prior to the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential primary over claims that Buhari was backing another aspirant.
Lawal made the revelation during an interview with Symfoni TV released on Saturday, while recounting events leading up to the APC presidential primary ahead of the 2023 general election.
According to Lawal, following Buhari’s recovery from illness, there was a vacuum around the presidency which some individuals exploited by falsely claiming they had the former president’s endorsement on behalf of various presidential aspirants.
He alleged that the individuals demanded huge sums of money from candidates, claiming they could influence Buhari through people close to him.
Lawal said Tinubu was affected by the rumours and would sometimes become depressed after being told Buhari had endorsed another contender.
He, however, said he repeatedly assured Tinubu that the claims were false and encouraged him to verify the information directly with Buhari.
According to Lawal, Tinubu was reluctant to approach the former president because he was afraid of him and did not want to confront him over such issues.
He added that former Osun State Governor and APC chieftain, Chief Bisi Akande, who enjoyed Buhari’s trust and respect, often intervened by speaking with the late former president and relaying his position to Tinubu.
Lawal said Akande’s feedback usually confirmed the assurances he had earlier given Tinubu, helping to dispel the
