A former secretary to the federal government (SGF), Boss Mustapha, has dismissed the claims that President Bola Tinubu made Muhammadu Buhari president in 2015.
Mr Mustapha said forming the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2015 was instrumental and that it paved the way for the first democratic defeat of an incumbent ruling party in Nigeria’s history.
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However, he said, Mr Buhari was already famous and had over 12 million votes in his kitty before the 2015 election.
“The merger of the legacy parties merely contributed three million votes to his victory at the 2015 presidential election,” Mr Mustapha said.
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The former SGF made this in his keynote address at a book launch on Wednesday.
The book, titled ‘According to the President: Lessons From A Presidential Spokesman’s Experience,’ was written by the spokesperson for former President Buhari, Garba Shehu.
Mr Buhari was in power between 2015 and 2023 when he handed over to President Tinubu.
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The APC was formed in 2013 in a merger of three opposition parties— Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigerian Peoples Party and a section of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
In 2022, when the APC prepared for its presidential primary, Mr Tinubu in Abeokuta declared unequivocally that he backed Mr Buhari to become President of Nigeria and nominated Professor Yemi Osinbajo as his running mate.
He said it was his turn to govern Nigeria after Mr Buhari. He subsequently won the 2023 election defeating several candidates, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the PDP and Labour Party’s Peter Obi.
Mr Mustapha disagrees with that notion that President Tinubu was key to Mr Buhari’s ascension to power.
“President Buhari’s integrity, national stature, and disciplined messaging were central to that breakthrough,” he said.
“In the 2003 elections, it was the Obasanjo-Buhari contest where Buhari recorded 2.7 million votes. In the next elections, he got 12.7 million votes. In 2007, it came to 6.6 million, then back to 12.2 million in 2011,” he said.
“Though the CPC had only one state, the ACN had six states, and the ANPP had three states. When you sum up the total votes that gave us the presidency in 2015, the aggregate was 15.4 million.
“When you sum up the total votes that gave us victory in 2015, the aggregate of the total votes was 15.4 million votes. So, what we brought to the table, the other parties that were in the matter, in addition to Buhari’s 12.2 million votes, were 3.2 million votes,” Mr Mustapha said at the book launch.
The former SGF said the involvement of key figures such as President Tinubu and Ali Modu Sheriff, a former governor of Borno State, lent credibility and direction to the merger.
“The endorsement and participation of party leaders such as President Tinubu and Senator Ali Modu Sheriff lent credibility and direction to the merger, helping to unify disparate party factions under the banner of the All Progressives Congress (APC),” he said.
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Mr Shehu said in writing the book, he tried to “authoritatively document the achievements and some of the historic decisions of the Buhari administration in eight years.”
He added that the book explains policies and programmes undertaken by the Buhari administration in its eight years in office.
Among the dignitaries present at the event included the current SGF, George Akume; former Nigerian Head of State, Yakubu Gowon; former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar; former Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo; Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, among others
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