Babachir Lawal Joins NDC, Backs Obi-Kwankwaso Ticket for 2027

former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Engr. Babachir Lawal, has formally joined the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), declaring that his decision to return to active politics after a period of retirement was driven by concerns over insecurity, poverty, hunger and the future of Nigeria.

The former SGF, who was received by the leadership of the opposition party in Abuja, was immediately assigned a major coordinating role in the NDC's 2027 campaign structure, with responsibility for providing leadership, guidance and direction to the party's activities in the North-East and North-Central geopolitical zones.

The NDC leadership described the former federal government secretary as an experienced political organiser and mobiliser whose decades of political experience and extensive network would be deployed to strengthen the party's structures ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Welcoming him, the party's National Leader, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson said his experience would be particularly useful in consolidating the NDC's presence in the two geopolitical zones.

"He will oversee everything in the northeastern part of Nigeria and, with him directing and guiding, we have no doubt that our party, which did very well, actually won a lot of states, even in the Northeast, that feat will be repeated," the party leadership said.

The party subsequently extended his coordinating responsibilities to the North-Central zone, directing him to help resolve political and organisational issues while providing guidance to candidates and campaign structures.

"We count on you, therefore, to help resolve issues, give guidance and direction to activities of all our candidates and our campaigns in those two zones," the Senator Dickson said.

The development comes as the NDC intensifies its organisational preparations for the 2027 elections. Peter Obi and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso are the party's presidential and vice-presidential candidates respectively, following their formal emergence on the NDC platform earlier this year.

Why I left APC — former SGF

Explaining his movement from the APC to ADC and now the NDC, the former SGF rejected suggestions that his history of belonging to different political parties reflected an absence of political ideology.

He said his political movements had instead been responses to what he regarded as failures by political parties to uphold democratic principles and produce presidential candidates acceptable to him.

"It is not my fault that parties fail to abide by the tenets of democracy," he said.

He recalled remaining in the APC throughout the eight-year presidency of former President Muhammadu Buhari, whom he described as a man of calibre, honesty and integrity.

"I was in APC, where I did not leave when APC produced General Muhammadu Buhari as a presidential candidate, a man of calibre, a man that is known as honest, a man of integrity. I remained there until Buhari finished his eight years and retired from politics," he said.

The former SGF said he subsequently became dissatisfied with the direction of the APC and the political process that produced its later presidential candidate.

According to him, he had initially contemplated withdrawing completely from partisan politics rather than support a political arrangement he disagreed with in the ADC. 

"And so rather than stay there and partner with evil, I decided that I would better retire from politics," he said.

He said his eventual decision to return to politics was influenced by his concerns about the living conditions of Nigerians and the future of the country.

"I looked at my life, I looked at the future of my children, I looked at the future of the friends of my children. I looked at the poverty, hunger, and insecurity that my neighbours, my colleagues, are living under," he said.

He said those considerations ultimately led him to the NDC and its Obi-Kwankwaso ticket.

"I could find no other choice than to join a political party that brought out Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso as a presidential candidate," he said.

The former SGF described Obi and Kwankwaso as politicians with records from their respective tenures as governors, arguing that their experiences in Anambra and Kano could inform their approach to national governance.

"Peter Obi is a man of integrity. Kwankwaso is a man that loves his people. Both of them, in time they were governors, they left indelible marks among their people," he said.

He subsequently declared that he considered his return to active politics and decision to support Obi's presidential bid a proper political choice.

"I think I have made a proper choice by coming out of my retirement and once again join Peter Obi to help make him the president of Nigeria," he said.

'NDC Strength Behind Attacks' - Senator Dickson 

Reacting to recent attacks on NDC supporters in some parts of the country, the former governor of Bayelsa State said that they were evidence that opponents were already concerned about the party's potential strength ahead of the 2027 election.

The NDC National Leader said the election would ultimately be decided by Nigerians and argued that the country's current socioeconomic conditions would influence voters.

"The reason they are attacking the party is because they know the strength of the NDC. Even when campaigns have not formally begun, they know," he said.

He called on political actors to "play by the books" ahead of the election.

NDC Moves to Protect Votes 

Meanwhile, the NDC has disclosed plans to recruit and train polling-unit agents nationwide as part of measures aimed at protecting votes cast for its candidates during the 2027 elections.

The announcement followed a question from journalists about how the party intended to prevent a repeat of the difficulties experienced by the Labour Party with electoral agents during the 2023 general elections.

The NDC National Secretary, Ikenna Enekweizu Esq, said a committee had already been constituted to coordinate the recruitment, collation and training of agents and it was part of the content of a recent press release by the party. 

"Part of the content of that press release is an indication that we have set up a committee to help collate and train agents, polling unit agents and all agents that we are required to have to have a successful election," he said.

He said the party had commenced the process of compiling the names of its agents and would train them before election day.

"We will make sure that the right thing is done on that day. They will be there to ensure that whatever votes we get are protected and properly announced," he said.

The NDC Deputy National Secretary urged Nigerians who support the party to take an active role in protecting the electoral process.

"We like Nigerians to exercise no fear this time around as to the protection of the votes that they will cast for NDC," he said.

He urged supporters not merely to vote but to become "vote protectors."

According to him, the National Working Committee formally inaugurated the committee at its meeting on Saturday, after which the committee held its inaugural meeting.

He said the committee would work with party leaders across the country to recruit Nigerians committed to serving as agents during the 2027 election.

"We are working with all the leaders of the party across the nation to ensure that we put Nigerians who are determined for change to serve as agents of this party in the next election," he said.

Another member of the committee said the NDC was determined to ensure that all polling units were covered by properly trained agents.

According to him and other party leaders, including the National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement Worldwide, Dr. Tanko Yunusa, lessons from the 2023 general election had demonstrated the importance of effective polling-unit representation and vote monitoring.

"We want to assure everybody that we will work hard to ensure that all the polling units are fully covered," he said.

The NDC's move comes amid intensified preparations for the 2027 elections, with the party simultaneously strengthening its grassroots structures and campaign organisation. Earlier this month, Obi and Kwankwaso met with NDC candidates from across the country in Abuja as part of efforts to expand the party's reach into rural communities and hinterlands.

The party has also recently indicated that consultations are underway for the constitution of its Presidential Campaign Council, with Obi and Kwankwaso involved in discussions over the structure.

For the former SGF, however, the immediate task is broader than campaign mobilisation.

He said his return to politics was ultimately motivated by what he described as the need to help build a government capable of confronting Nigeria's insecurity, economic hardship and social challenges.

He therefore called on Nigerians to support what he described as a patriotic effort to produce a new political direction for the country.

Benita Ibrahim