Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Babachir Lawal, has defended his decision to refer to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as “Kachalla,” saying the title is commonly used by people such as notorious bandit leader Bello Turji to address their local leaders.
Lawal made the remarks while speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Monday, shortly after announcing his resignation from the African Democratic Congress, ADC.
According to him, “Kachalla” is a title used by people in the bush to address their leaders, adding that Atiku, being a Fulani man, should not find the description unusual.
The former SGF also alleged that some Fulani groups were celebrating Atiku’s emergence as a presidential candidate because they believed it would improve their chances of producing Nigeria’s next president.
Lawal further accused the former vice president of failing to publicly condemn killings, kidnappings and violent attacks in parts of the country, particularly in northern Nigeria and his home state of Adamawa.
He questioned Atiku’s response to recent attacks that claimed several lives, including incidents in Adamawa, alleging that the former vice president had neither condemned the violence nor visited affected communities to sympathise with victims.
Lawal also referenced the killing of Deborah Samuel in Sokoto in 2022, claiming that Atiku initially issued a statement condemning the incident before later distancing himself from it.
He argued that a presidential aspirant should openly condemn acts of violence and what he described as ongoing killings in different parts of the country.
Lawal said:
“I called him ‘Kachalla’ because that’s the title people like Bello Turji call their local leaders. That’s the title their people in the bush use. Is he not a Fulani?
“Fulanis are celebrating now that their brother has gotten a ticket, aren’t they? And they are beginning to celebrate that they will produce the president.
“Why are they celebrating if they are not intending to use it for you? Have you ever heard Atiku condemn any of these kidnappings? Have you ever heard him on record condemning all these massive killings?
“Whether it is all these killings, eighteen people killed and maimed, what has Atiku said about it, not even talking about going there? Not even going to sympathise with the victims.
“Even in Adamawa, they killed seventeen villagers recently. Has he ever condemned it? Because the victims are not his people, has he ever condemned it, for God’s sake?
“Go and ask him. When they did that thing to Deborah in Sokoto and he made a press statement condemning it, he had to retract it. He had to retract it and started saying that it was his SA acting without his authority. He said that.
“He wants to be the president and he cannot condemn the genocide that is going on right before him, in his own state.”
