Former SGF Drags Tinubu for Going to Meet Pope Leo XIV in Rome: "Muslim-Muslim Ticket"

• Former SGF Babachir Lawal has dismissed President Tinubu’s visit to Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration as a lobbyist-arranged event
• Lawal criticised the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket, saying Tinubu’s Vatican visit insulted Christians and wouldn’t have happened with a Christian VP
• Furthermore, Lawal revealed that the PDP has been excluded from the 2027 opposition coalition due to an “incurable virus"

Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, has downplayed President Bola Tinubu’s recent visit to Rome for the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV, saying the trip was not a major achievement but rather a result of lobbying efforts.

Legit.ng had earlier reported that President Tinubu attended the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV following an invitation from Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State.

Speaking in an interview on Arise Television, Lawal said,

“You know that going to see the Pope is just a matter of your lobby. How well you can lobby, how many friends you have out there in the Vatican that can lobby for you?

"So, it is not as if it’s a major achievement to visit the Pope on his inauguration. It can be arranged in advance by lobbyists, probably with the correct inducement. So, Bola Tinubu going to visit the Pope is a non-issue.”

Muslim-Muslim ticket insulted Christian population, says Lawal

Lawal argued that Tinubu’s presence at the Pope’s inauguration only reinforced the insult caused by the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the presidency, suggesting that a Muslim president should not be leading eminent Christians to the Vatican, Vanguard reported.

He said,

“His meeting with the Pope further reinforced my sentiment that a Muslim-Muslim ticket was an insult to Christians.

"A Muslim should not be leading eminent Christians to the Pope. The President would not have attended the event if he had a Christian Vice President.”

Lawal: PDP excluded from coalition talks ahead of 2027

As reported by Punch, on the ongoing efforts to form a coalition against Tinubu in the 2027 election, Lawal revealed that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is being excluded, describing it as having an “incurable virus.”

“In all the meetings I’ve attended so far, nobody has ever bothered about adopting the PDP as the platform.

"We all agree that PDP has an incurable virus. No antibiotics can cure what is ailing the PDP and we don’t want to go into a house that we cannot modify that is not willing to change," Lawal said.

He confirmed that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is actively involved in the coalition’s campaign to unseat Tinubu and that discussions are ongoing about whether to register a new party or upgrade an existing one as the coalition’s platform.

Lawal promised the coalition would soon announce its new platform to ease public concern, amid the PDP’s ongoing leadership crisis that has deepened since the 2023 presidential election loss.

What Tinubu told Peter Obi, Fayemi at Pope’s inauguration

Previously, Legit.ng reported that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu met with the 2023 Labour Party Presidential candidate, Peter Obi and former Ekiti state governor Kayode Fayemi at Pope Leo XIV's installation mass at the Vatican City in Rome.

According to presidential aide, Bayo Onanuga, it was Fayemi who suggested they meet with Tinubu. He shared details on what happened among them, stating that the former Ekiti Governor broke the ice.

Source: Legit.ng