Nothing Much On Tinubu’s Rome Visit, Defection Caused By Hunger, Govs Can’t Deliver – Lawal

The former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, has said President Bola Tinubu’s visit to the Vatican was an insult to Christians.

Lawal said the President’s visit to Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration could be arranged and did not mean that he was accepted globally.

Naijaonpoint reports that Lawal stated this in an interview with Arise News. He stated that Tinubu’s visit to Rome was a non-issue.

According to him, if Tinubu had a Christian vice president, it was the vice president who should lead the Christian delegation. He maintained that the Muslim Muslim ticket of the APC in the last general election was an insult to Christians.

“As a figure in government, having an audience with the Pope is primarily dependent on one’s ability to lobby; it is not a significant achievement for a president to visit the Pope for his inauguration, as such meetings can often be arranged in advance by lobbyists,” he said.

Defections Into APC

The former SGF said the defections into the All Progressives Congress (APC) are caused by hunger and political interest.

He said there are two classes of politicians, “those who go into politics to get something out of it and those who go into politics to do something into it”.

He stressed that some of the politicians who defected to the APC cannot survive hunger and need to safeguard their stomachs and luxury lives.

“It’s not every Nigerian that can withstand hunger and not every Nigerian can survive a poverty condition. So most of these politicians that are defecting to APC are probably driven by the desire to safeguard their stomachs and to safeguard their luxurious lifestyles that they have acquired while in government using the people’s money. So, to them, it’s okay, they can go that way, that’s what they choose to do,” he stated.

Governors’ Influence In Presidential Elections

Speaking further on defections, Lawal said the governors only have the power to influence who gets a party ticket, but cannot influence voters.

“Yes, within the party’s political system, they have some influence; they can rig the party’s primaries in favour of their candidates, so a senator, for example, who is out of favour with his governor is endangered in that sense. His governor might not give him a return ticket or order everybody not to vote for him, but no governor can influence the voters,” he stated.

He cited former Delta State under Ifeanyi Okowa, noting that even as Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) vice presidential candidate, he could not deliver the state in 2023 election.

He also referenced Borno State where the current Vice President, Kashim Shettima, did not deliver.

“The fact that 21 governors could not deliver their states for their preferred candidates during the presidential election indicates that their defection is largely irrelevant to the voters’ choices,” he added.