Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, has argued that President Bola Tinubu says he is rebuilding what former President Muhammadu Buhari left behind, but that what is happening is building backwards, not forwards. He said the administration has chosen to go in the opposite direction and that the result has been what he described as total calamity.
In an interview with Symfoni TV, Lawal was asked about government supporters who claim he lacks the moral standing to criticize the Tinubu administration because he served in the Buhari government, which they describe as a failure, and that Tinubu is now trying to rebuild what was destroyed.Watch video here
He was also asked how he sees Tinubu’s performance, given that he and Tinubu are longtime friends. He said Tinubu had two phases. Lawal described Tinubu before becoming president as an excellent human being who did not tolerate a friend suffering, who was kind, listened to advice, and went to any length to help.
Lawal said Tinubu changed around 2022 when he moved closer to Abuja to pursue his presidential ambition. He argued that Tinubu encountered a different environment in Abuja, with people of different backgrounds who surrounded him.
He alleged that some northern associates who knew Tinubu from Lagos now caged him and introduced him to characters and ideas he would not have embraced in Lagos. According to him, they kept telling him they would make him president and introduced him to religious bigots.
Lawal recalled working with both Buhari and Tinubu to build a merger that would defeat the PDP. He said Buhari asked him to bridge the relationship because Tinubu trusted him and that Tinubu at the time told him his ambition to be president could be deferred until they first secured a country by removing the PDP.
In his words, “But yes, agreed, Bola Tinubu says he’s rebuilding what Buhari left, but he’s building backwards, not forwards. The essence of government is when you come in, you see, you take over from another government, you make sure you progress in the positive direction.”
“But the fact that they chose to go in the opposite direction, yes, it’s a continuation of Buhari government, but opposite direction, total calamity. Yeah, that’s the way I see it today.”
Click On The Link To Watch The Video (6:26 to 7:01 minutes).
