Former SGF ‘Grass Cutter’ Babachir Lawal Joins NDC, Backs Obi-Kwankwaso

By Arit Mbeh

Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal, has joined the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), three months after leaving the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

Lawal was formally received into the NDC in Abuja on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, by the party’s National Leader, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, alongside members of the National Working Committee.

The former SGF also declared his support for the NDC presidential ticket of Peter Obi and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Speaking after his defection, Lawal said Nigerians concerned about insecurity, hunger, ignorance, disease and other challenges confronting the country should support the NDC.

He said: “Anybody in Nigeria who has the interest of our country at heart and sympathy for the suffering that is ongoing in our country, along with insecurity, hunger, ignorance and disease, will have no choice but to join a party that represents the future and have Peter and Kwankwaso as their candidates.”

Lawal’s movement to the NDC came about three months after he resigned from the ADC following the emergence of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as the party’s presidential candidate.

In his resignation, Lawal alleged that the ADC presidential primary had been manipulated in favour of Atiku. The allegation was part of the circumstances surrounding his departure from the party.

The former SGF, who served under former President Muhammadu Buhari, had earlier been a prominent figure in opposition political realignments ahead of the 2027 elections.
Receiving him into the NDC, Dickson described Lawal as an experienced political mobiliser and activist. He said the former SGF would play a leadership role in coordinating the party’s activities and campaigns in the North-East.

Lawal has also remained publicly associated with the controversial “grass-cutter” episode dating from his tenure as SGF. The controversy involved contracts for clearing invasive plant species in the North-East and became one of the major issues surrounding his suspension and subsequent removal from office in 2017.

Lawal has consistently disputed wrongdoing in the matter and, in a 2026 response to renewed criticism, maintained that he was acquitted by the courts and that no public funds were lost in the contract.

His entry into the NDC adds another prominent political figure to the party as it builds its structures ahead of the 2027 general elections.