Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, who was sacked for allegedly diverting funds meant for IDPs, has said his firing was a blessing in disguise.

Lawal, who spoke with reporters on Monday in Abuja, said he made N500 million from businesses in 2017.

The ex-SGF said his monthly income as SGF was N953,000 [N11.5 million per year].

Buhari fired Lawal in October for allegedly diverting funds meant for people displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency.

He said,

“Let me shock you, before I came into government, I have been in business, I was a very successful businessman,” he said.

“I am a world-renowned IT consultant and I have a very large farm, spanning over 1,000 hectares, which I abandoned to join governance.

“I was earning N930, 000 monthly as the SGF, now that I have returned to my farm and reactivated it after my sack, I now have 4,000 hectares under cultivation.

“Last year, I earned close to half a billion naira from my farm proceeds, I have a cattle ranch that I am developing gradually and I am back to IT consultancy, life is now good.”

Lawal, who spoke to the press for the first time since he left office, added that everybody who saw him now, complimented him, saying he was looking good and healthy.

He, however, said that his sack opened his eyes to a lot of things that were hidden from him, adding that lots of people he helped in the past, ”were actually planning for his downfall”.

Referring to the scripture the former SGF said;

“everything that happened to a man is for his own good; my sack I would say, is rather a blessing in disguise.

“Let me tell you, nothing happened to me. Right from the beginning of the saga, I knew that the whole thing was fabricated and that was why I did not give any damn from the beginning.

“The reason some people don’t like me is that I am so confident of myself. Did you hear me defend myself that time, I didn’t do it and I will not do it because I know that they are fabricated,” he said.

The Cable