According to him, the political fixers approached presidential aspirants with claims that they had direct access to Buhari and could influence his choice of successor.
Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, has alleged that political middlemen exploited then-President Muhammadu Buhari's perceived distance from governance during the build-up to the 2023 presidential election by collecting huge sums of money from presidential aspirants while falsely claiming they could influence his endorsement.
Lawal made the allegation during an interview on Symfoni TV, where he described what he claimed was a thriving network of influence peddlers operating around the presidency.
"I tell you what happened. By that time, a lot of things around Buhari had fallen into pieces. He had come back, recovered from his illness and his old age and normal stamina to do things he wants to do, including brain," Lawal said.
"So he was aloof to the issues of governance, and when that vacuum is created, small pockets of influence begin to… people started peddling influence."
