Boss Mustapha, who served as Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) under President Muhammadu Buhari, has stated that Buhari’s 2015 presidential victory was not the result of any single individual’s efforts within the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Speaking at a book launch in Abuja on Wednesday, Mustapha said he had no intention of stirring controversy, but emphasized that Buhari’s electoral success was the product of a broad-based political merger and the collective work of multiple party leaders.
He acknowledged President Bola Tinubu’s significant role in the formation of the APC but clarified that Buhari already had a solid electoral base of over 12 million votes prior to the 2015 election. According to Mustapha, the merger with other legacy parties—the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), and elements of the breakaway “New PDP”—contributed an additional three million votes.
> “Buhari brought 12.5 million votes to the table,” Mustapha said. “The merger added about three million more. It was a collective effort, not the achievement of any one person.”
Mustapha’s remarks come in response to a speech delivered by President Tinubu in Ogun State in June 2022, where Tinubu detailed his instrumental role in Buhari’s emergence as president. Tinubu had claimed he convinced Buhari to run again after previous electoral failures, and even declined Buhari’s offer to become his vice-presidential running mate in favor of selecting a Christian candidate—Yemi Osinbajo—in order to maintain party unity.
Tinubu’s speech included several bold claims, including that Buhari, Osinbajo, and Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun owed their positions in part to his influence.
However, Mustapha offered a broader historical perspective during a lecture titled *“President Buhari’s Contribution to National Development.”* He described how Buhari, as leader of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), supported the merger that created the APC in 2013. He credited the combined efforts of leaders like Tinubu, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, and others with helping to unify opposition forces and secure the first democratic defeat of an incumbent president in Nigerian history.
> “President Buhari’s integrity, national stature, and disciplined messaging were central to that breakthrough,” Mustapha said, noting that the merger of parties created a viable political force capable of winning nationwide support.
Mustapha concluded that while Tinubu and others played key roles, Buhari’s long-standing popularity and the coalition-building strategy were what ultimately led to his election victory.
