By Francis Ajuonuma, Ben Adoga, and Anthony Otaru
Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, is facing widespread backlash following his controversial assertion that former President Muhammadu Buhari would have emerged victorious in the 2015 presidential election without the political alliance and strategic support of President Bola Tinubu.
Mustapha, while speaking at the unveiling of “According to the President: Lessons from a Presidential Spokesperson’s Experience”- a book authored by Garba Shehu, former presidential spokesperson, claimed that Buhari had an established base of 12 million votes and that the merger which produced the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2013 added only about three million votes to secure his eventual victory.
However, the former SGF’s comments have been met with a strong rebuke from several political figures, public commentators, and youth groups, many of whom described the remark as not only revisionist but a deliberate distortion of Nigeria’s political history.
While Boss Mustapha’s remarks may have been intended to highlight Buhari’s consistent support base in the North, they have instead sparked a storm of criticism from across the political spectrum.
The consensus among critics is that Buhari’s three failed presidential bids, despite his 12 million votes, serve as irrefutable evidence that it was Tinubu’s political dexterity, coalition-building, and southern votes that ultimately made the difference in 2015.
Attempts to downplay this, they argue, not only discredit historical facts but also undermine the unity that brought APC to power.
*Presidency reacts: ‘A disservice to history’
Temitope Ajayi, Senior Special Assistant to President Tinubu on Media and Public Affairs, swiftly condemned Mustapha’s claim, insisting that Buhari’s emergence as APC’s presidential flagbearer was itself only possible because of Tinubu’s strategic influence.
“There was no way Buhari would have won the APC presidential primary in 2014 at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos without Tinubu,” Ajayi said. “It was Tinubu who mobilised APC governors and South-West delegates to support Buhari. Without that, the 12 million captive Northern votes would have amounted to nothing—just like in 2003, 2007, and 2011.”
Ajayi stressed that Tinubu’s role was not just that of a kingmaker. Still, a critical enabler of national acceptance, stressing, “Every effort and support that made it possible for President Buhari to win should never be diminished.”
*Reno Omokri: ‘History would have been different without Tinubu’
Reno Omokri, a former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, also slammed Mustapha’s remarks, describing them as divisive and factually hollow.
“Boss Mustapha was just being silly,” Omokri said. “Buhari had always had those 12 million votes, but what did they amount to in 2003 and 2011? He still lost. The Nigerian electoral system was designed so that no regional strongman could become president without national spread.”
He added, “Without Tinubu, Jonathan would have won again in 2015, and Buhari would have remained a historical footnote. Tinubu’s support gave Buhari the needed spread and southern legitimacy.”
*Adeyanju: ‘Buhari was a serial loser until Tinubu’s coalition’
Civil rights lawyer and activist Deji Adeyanju joined the chorus of criticisms, calling Mustapha’s statement an “attempt to rewrite history.”
“Buhari didn’t win the 2015 election by himself. It was the coalition—Tinubu, Atiku, Amaechi, and others—that made it possible. Before then, Buhari was a serial loser like Atiku. Even PDP governors who didn’t defect worked against Jonathan. Nigerians must not forget that,” Adeyanju tweeted.
*Yoruba youths: ‘Mustapha is distorting facts’
The Yoruba Youth Socio-Cultural Association (YYSA) also faulted Mustapha, describing his assertion as “misleading and disrespectful to political realities.”
YYSA National President Olalekan Hammed reminded Nigerians of Buhari’s dismal southern showing in 2011, “He didn’t even get 1% in 10 southern states except Edo. But in 2015, Tinubu helped deliver Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun and more. Buhari would not have secured the APC ticket or Presidency without Tinubu’s political strength and financial support.”
*Osita Okechukwu: ‘Tinubu laid the golden victory votes’
Former Managing Director of Voice of Nigeria and founding APC member Osita Okechukwu said Mustapha’s claim lacked context and political nuance.
“Boss Mustapha wasn’t there when Buhari started this journey in 2003. He missed the realpolitik that produced APC. In 2011, Buhari lost because the merger with ACN failed. But in 2015, Tinubu’s ACN brought the ‘premium golden victory votes’ that gave Buhari the required national spread and propelled him into Aso Rock,” Okechukwu said.
He recounted how CPC was instructed to negotiate only with Tinubu’s ACN in 2013: “We refused talks with ANPP until we sat together with ACN to birth the APC merger. That supplementary vote from the South-West made all the difference.”
*Ogbeifun: ‘One man didn’t make Buhari, but Tinubu changed the game’
Public affairs commentator Sam Ogbeifun offered a nuanced view. He argued that while no single individual should take full credit for a presidential victory in a true democracy, Nigeria’s peculiar political context made Tinubu’s contribution pivotal.
“Buhari had 12 million votes before 2015 but couldn’t win because he lacked spread. When Tinubu joined with others, they brought those additional 3 million votes and strategic wins in key zones. Boss Mustapha’s claim is therefore clever by half.”
*Idagu: ‘There’re political undertones to Mustapha’s statement’
Civil society activist Comrade Mark Idagu described Mustapha’s statement as politically motivated.
“It’s rather curious that this narrative is being pushed now. Tinubu brought ideas, money, strategy and national coalition to the table. Those factors converted Buhari’s regional popularity into a national presidency,” he said. “We should not attempt to alter history in broad daylight.”
