Akande Disputes Babachir Lawal’s Claims, Says Buhari Offered to Back Osinbajo Four Times

Former presidential spokesperson Laolu Akande has challenged claims by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, that former President Muhammadu Buhari considered Yemi Osinbajo’s 2023 presidential ambition inappropriate, insisting that Buhari personally offered to support the former vice-president on at least four occasions.

Akande, who served as Osinbajo’s spokesperson from 2015 to 2023, made the rebuttal in a statement on Saturday, October 17, 2026, following Lawal’s recent interview in which he discussed the relationship between Buhari, Osinbajo and President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2023 general election.

Lawal, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), had argued that Buhari would have found it difficult to support Osinbajo’s presidential ambition because of his longstanding political relationship with Tinubu, the former Lagos State governor who eventually secured the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential ticket.

Akande rejected that account, describing the suggestion that Buhari considered Osinbajo’s ambition “highly immoral and distasteful” as false. He said the former president had personally expressed willingness to support Osinbajo on at least four separate occasions.

According to Akande, Buhari reportedly asked Osinbajo, “If I don’t support you, who will I support?” He also recalled that Buhari publicly commended the former vice-president during a Federal Executive Council meeting in 2022 for conducting what he described as a dignified, issue-based campaign across the country.

Akande argued that these encounters contradicted Lawal’s portrayal of Buhari as opposed to Osinbajo’s presidential aspiration.

The disagreement also concerns allegations about the appointment of officials to the Office of the Vice-President during the Buhari administration.

Lawal reportedly claimed that a memorandum containing more than 20 proposed staff appointments had been delayed and that concerns about the nominees’ ethnic and religious backgrounds influenced the process.

Akande denied the existence of the memorandum in the form described by Lawal. He maintained that Osinbajo submitted appointment requests directly to Buhari for approval before the documents were forwarded through the appropriate administrative channels.

He also rejected allegations that Osinbajo’s office favoured members of his church, arguing that its personnel reflected Nigeria’s regional and religious diversity. Akande cited the presence of Muslim officials and senior advisers from different parts of the country as evidence against the allegation.

The competing accounts have reopened questions about internal political relationships and decision-making within the Buhari administration, particularly during the contest for the APC presidential ticket in 2022.

Osinbajo contested the APC presidential primary in June 2022 but lost to Tinubu, who secured the party’s nomination and went on to win the February 2023 presidential election.

The dispute highlights differing recollections of Buhari’s position during the succession contest and the political relationships that shaped the ruling party’s nomination process.

While Akande says his account is based on his direct involvement in the vice-president’s office and his knowledge of discussions within the Presidential Villa, Lawal’s claims remain disputed. The accounts presented by the two men have not, by themselves, established an independently verified conclusion about every private discussion between the former president and his vice-president.

For Nigeria’s political history, the disagreement underscores the importance of corroborating claims about confidential government deliberations through contemporaneous records and independent evidence.

Laolu Akande disputes Babachir Lawal’s claims, saying former President Muhammadu Buhari offered to support Yemi Osinbajo’s presidential bid at least four times before the 2023 election.