Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, has said the late President Muhammadu Buhari would have seen his then vice-president, Yemi Osinbajo, challenging Bola Tinubu for the 2023 presidential ticket as highly immoral and distasteful.

Lawal made the remarks in an interview with Symfoni TV, published on YouTube on Thursday. He said Buhari would have found it hard to back Osinbajo against Tinubu because of his long relationship with the former Lagos governor.

According to Lawal, Buhari saw Tinubu as the man who recommended him for the presidency and who later sought to succeed him. He said Buhari would have considered it improper for Osinbajo to contest the same office as Tinubu even if he believed Osinbajo would make a better president.

Lawal admitted that he never discussed the matter with Buhari, so the position is his own reading of the late president’s mind. He described Buhari as a man who valued loyalty.

The former SGF also said Buhari had separate concerns about Osinbajo’s choice of appointees while he was acting president. Lawal recalled a memo containing about 28 names, most of whom Buhari believed were Yoruba and members of Osinbajo’s church.

He said he appealed to Buhari to approve the appointments, arguing that Osinbajo was new to government. In Lawal’s account, the episode was one of several in which Buhari took note of Osinbajo’s appointments, and Buhari feared Osinbajo might follow a similar pattern if he became president.

Lawal’s account arrives amid fresh interest in how Buhari handled the succession in 2022. In another Symfoni TV interview released in July, he said Buhari had reservations about handing power to Tinubu, partly on religious and ethical grounds, and doubts over whether Tinubu would treat members of his camp fairly.

He added that Buhari eventually agreed to stay neutral, which he suggested gave contenders a level playing field at the primary.

Lawal served as SGF under Buhari and was once a Tinubu ally. He has since become one of the president’s sharper critics and is active in opposition politics ahead of the 2027 general elections. The Tinubu camp has previously dismissed his comments as bitterness.