Lawal spoke during an interview on ARISE News on Tuesday, following Obi’s defection from the ADC to the Nigeria Democratic Congress.
The 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate dumped the ADC on Sunday alongside former New Nigeria People’s Party presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, citing legal disputes within the coalition and a toxic political climate.
The ex-SGF said the party had long harboured doubts about Obi’s loyalty, insisting that despite efforts to accommodate him, his commitment remained uncertain.
“Peter Obi joined the coalition after it had all begun for quite a long time. And let me tell you the history of it. He had always been somebody that is very shifty when it came to ADC. We never felt his heart was in it,” Lawal said.
He added that the party made concessions to retain Obi, including allowing him influence over key party structures.
“And we went over backwards since we are a party that is broad-based, we want to carry everybody along to accommodate Peter Obi. I’ll tell you, at one time we just felt that he needed some encouragement to stay in the party, and we offered him to single-handedly bring the organising secretary of the party, who is at the heart of the processes of the party. We offered it to him. Bring it, whoever, whoever, whoever you want, we’ll accept him. We never extended that goodwill to any other member of the party. So you can see right from inception, we suspected that his heart was not with us,” he claimed.
Lawal dismissed suggestions that Obi left the party out of suspicion, attributing his exit instead to fear of internal competition.
“I don’t think it is suspicion. I think it’s fear,” he said.
The former SGF clarified that his support for Obi during the 2023 elections was based on shared political objectives at the time, not personal allegiance.
“Everybody had his own route to get him there. It’s up to him. I was never a member of the Labour Party throughout the time I was supporting Peter Obi. It just so happened that at that particular time, in that election cycle, our goals, you know, merged, aligned, and we felt that we could support each other and pursue the same goal,” he said.
Rejecting claims of inconsistency, Lawal argued that political support evolves with changing circumstances.
“Consistency in politics is not about the person. As life progresses, you meet better materials,” he added.
He further stated that Obi forfeited his backing by leaving the party.
“He hasn’t even lost my support. He threw away my support because he left the platform on which we were operating. Yeah, that’s the platform, I have to operate on my own party platform. I can’t go and do anti-party because Peter Obi is tall or short or educated or what is it for? I have my own plans and processes and what I want to achieve in the party,” he said.
On the defection of Obi and Kwankwaso to the NDC, Lawal downplayed its political impact, saying such moves do not necessarily translate into significant electoral advantage.
“It looks like it’s a big thing or something. If Peter Obi leaves, and the South East decides to leave with him, they go with the House of Rep members. Well, there were quite a number of Northerners there as well. If Kwankwaso decides to leave with the 44—about 44 members of the House of Rep or whatever in Kano—some will follow him. In fact, if they are saying 17, it means that it is not much given the number of Kano State people that are in the House of Rep, South East people that are in the House of Rep. If only 17 are able to go with them, they should pray that the rest are on their side,” he said.
He also dismissed the notion that opposition fragmentation would automatically benefit the ruling All Progressives Congress, noting that electoral outcomes depend on how votes shift across regions.
“No, it doesn’t. It doesn’t automatically guarantee. So our position is that the votes that the NDC will take majorly are going to be out of what could have naturally gone to the APC from the South,” he said.
Lawal reaffirmed his commitment to the ADC, stressing that the party remains focused on building a long-term ideological platform rather than pursuing short-term political gains.
“I remain in ADC along with all other people of like minds, and I think we are doing well. We joined ADC to build a party that has ideology, that has longevity, that will focus on processes and procedures rather than on a frantic urgent outcome,” he said.
He added that the party had yet to take a position on zoning its presidential ticket, noting that such decisions would follow internal processes, including congresses and primaries.
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