By Kolawole Ojebisi
A former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, has dismissed reports that former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, has brokered a deal with the 2023 Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, ahead of the 2027 election.
Lawal, who is a member of the Contact and Mobilization and Finance Committees of the Atiku-led coalition, maintained that the widespread reports on ‘deal brokering’ is just a mere speculation.
The ex-SGF spoke in an exclusive interview with Sunday Tribune.He said, “How can he make a deal when he isn’t yet the presidential candidate? It is after the convention and somebody wins and the party can sit down and begins to say, who do we make a vice-president? What formidable pair will make us win the election? So, on what basis are they pairing up?
“People are just speculating about it. That’s not in this coalition we are doing. We will wait for the convention to throw up, maybe among the three, others might join soon when the platform is steady, people are going to join”.
Recall that it was widely reported that Atiku has brokered a deal with Obi to be his running mate for the 2027 presidential election, in a bid to unseat President Bola Tinubu.
According to the report, Atiku vowed to serve a single-term of four years if the coalition succeeds in ousting Tinubu out of power and subsequently support Obi to succeed him in 2031.
Recall that Obi in a viral video on Saturday said he would contest the 2027 presidential election on the platform of the Labour Party.
