- Presidency to Mustapha: “That is a Lie, Don’t Rewrite History”
By Abiola Olawale
A former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, has debunked claims that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was the primary force behind Muhammadu Buhari’s 2015 presidential victory, stressing that Buhari’s traditional 12.2 million votes guaranteed him the presidency.
Speaking at the launch of the book According to the President: Lessons from a Presidential Spokesperson’s Experience, written by Buhari’s former spokesperson Garba Shehu, Mustapha credited Buhari’s win to his established northern voter base and the grassroots strength of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).
Mustapha, addressing a high-profile audience, emphasized that Buhari’s 12.2 million loyal voters in the North were the backbone of the All Progressives Congress (APC) victory in 2015.
He noted that the merger of opposition parties, including Tinubu’s Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), contributed only about 3.2 million votes to the total 15.4 million that secured Buhari’s presidency.
Mustapha asserted: “When you sum up the total votes that gave us victory in 2015, the aggregate was 15.4 million. Buhari already had 12.2 million of those. What the other parties brought to the table—combined—was 3.2 million votes.”
However, the Presidency, through Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity Temitope Ajayi, swiftly reacted to Mustapha’s claims.
Ajayi argued that Tinubu’s strategic mobilization of APC governors and Southwest delegates was pivotal in securing Buhari’s APC presidential candidacy at the 2014 primaries in Lagos.
“There’s no way Buhari would have won the APC ticket without Tinubu’s political machinery,” Ajayi wrote on social media, calling Mustapha’s remarks a “disservice to recent history.”
He highlighted Buhari’s three prior electoral losses in 2003, 2007, and 2011, despite his northern voter base, underscoring Tinubu’s role in turning the tide.
