Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, has disclosed that President Bola Tinubu provided critical financial backing for Muhammadu Buhari’s 2015 presidential campaign after an initial funding arrangement fell through.
Speaking in a recent interview, Lawal said the campaign faced funding challenges immediately after Buhari secured the APC ticket, noting that the former president “was not a money person.”
According to him, he and former Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, met with a wealthy businessman on his yacht to solicit support. Lawal alleged that the meeting was held secretly because the businessman “didn’t want to be seen with Buhari’s people.”
“After the meeting, he agreed to support Buhari with funds, but while coming out of the yacht, a police officer saw us. Timipre was worried that the meeting would get to Jonathan’s ears, and it did. The man was summoned to Abuja and threatened, and that was how we lost that funding,_” Lawal said.
Following the setback, Lawal said the team approached Tinubu, who then mobilized resources for the campaign.
“_That was when we went to Tinubu and explained the issue to him. Through him, we raised sufficient funds to run Buhari’s campaign,_” he stated.
Lawal further claimed that Tinubu also funded a separate campaign structure for then Vice-Presidential candidate, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo. He added that Tinubu hired American political consultants who previously worked on Barack Obama’s campaign to manage Buhari’s public image, at a cost he put at “over N2 billion.”
“They were the same people who ran Obama’s campaign, and I know that cost him over N2 billion. Whenever there was a need for expenditure, he didn’t go to the campaign purse. He spent his own purse,_” Lawal said.
He did not name the businessman, the consultants, or provide documentation to support the figures
