The Chairman of the Adamawa State Electoral Committee for the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential primary, Dr. Nicholas Msheliza, has accused former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, of attempting to manipulate the primary election results in favour of his preferred candidate.
Msheliza made the allegation while rejecting claims by Lawal that the primary results were altered to favour former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
Responding to the allegations, Msheliza said he was the returning officer referenced in Lawal’s claims and dismissed the accusations as misleading and capable of deceiving the public.
Lawal had earlier alleged that results from Hong Local Government Area were manipulated, claiming that his preferred candidate, Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, scored 20,000 votes against Atiku’s 1,000 before the figures were allegedly altered during collation in Abuja.
However, Msheliza countered that the official results from Hong Local Government showed Atiku Abubakar polling 11,991 votes, while Hayatu-Deen secured 2,493 votes and Rotimi Amaechi got 377 votes.
He explained that as returning officer, his role was limited to receiving and collating results already compiled at the local government level, stressing that he had no authority to alter figures.
Msheliza further alleged that after Lawal became aware of the results, he contacted him and requested that the figures be changed to favour his candidate, a request he said he refused.”
According to him, Lawal later constituted a parallel electoral arrangement from Abuja without consultation, which he described as irregular.
He claimed that the new committee conducted separate exercises in Hong, Madagali, Michika and Mubi North local government areas without proper ward-level materials, producing what he termed fabricated results.
Msheliza challenged Lawal to present any evidence supporting his claims, including result sheets, for public scrutiny alongside official documents from the Adamawa State Electoral Committee.
He added that further details would be made available to expose what he described as attempts to interfere with the credibility of the primary process.
The ADC official advised Lawal to pursue any grievances through appropriate legal channels rather than discredit the exercise, insisting that the integrity of the process in Adamawa State was upheld.
