Babachir Lawal dismisses significance of Tinubu’s invitation to Pope Leo’s inauguration

A former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, on Wednesday, dismissed the significance of the invitation of President Bola Tinubu at the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, Rome.

Lawal, in a media interaction on ARISE NEWS on Wednesday, monitored by National Daily Newspaper from Lagos, noted that governments work in diverse ways to secure such invitation or participation; saying such invitation or attendance can be lobbied for, and often arranged in advance by lobbyists.

He maintained that securing such participation depends on the ability to lobby.

According to Lawal @ARISEtv,  “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.”

Revisiting his opposition to Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket, Lawal stated: “Tinubu’s Meeting with the Pope reinforces my belief that a Muslim-Muslim ticket is an Insult to Christians.”

The former Secretary to the Government of the Federation berated politicians defecting to other parties with the mandate of the parties they were elected, saying that they do so for their own narrow interests. He noted that most politicians cannot bear hunger, so, they join where the cake is being shared, and abandon opposition.

Lawal also relegated the defection of governors to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), saying that decisions on election days are made by the people and not governors. He cited the instances where certain governors failed to deliver their states to their parties in the 2023 presidential election, essentially, Delta and southeast states, where he noted Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) defeated them.

He insisted that their defection is irrelevant to voters’ choices in election, adding that the emerging coalition is not perturbed by the wave of defections to the APC.

According to Lawal, “Most politicians defecting to the APC are doing so to safeguard their own interests. “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.”