₦airaland Forum

The presidency and several senior figures within the All Progressives Congress (APC) have faulted claims by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, over the events that led to Muhammadu Buhari’s historic victory in the 2015 presidential election.

Mustapha, speaking at a book launch in Abuja on Wednesday, had argued that it was Buhari’s personal integrity and disciplined public image—not the political influence of then APC leader Bola Ahmed Tinubu—that secured his electoral success.

But the assertion has drawn sharp rebuttals.

Reacting in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga said President Tinubu played an indispensable role in Buhari’s emergence as APC flag bearer and eventual president. He stated that without Tinubu’s support, Buhari would not have defeated former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and ex-Kano State Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso during the APC presidential primary held in Lagos in 2014.


Bayo Onanuga, the special adviser to President Tinubu and information and strategy, disclosed this, while quoting a report where Babachir Lawal, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (AGF) under Buhari's administration.

In the 2020 report, Lawal, who served under Buhari before the termination of his appointment in 2017, explained how the then Tinubu raised funds for the then All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Buhari, to win the 2015 presidential election.


Onanuga explained that what Lawal mentioned in the report was just one out of many that President Tinubu of today did for his political ally ahead of the 2015 election, where the APC defeated the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The presidency's comment was a response to Lawal's successor in the office of the SGF, Boss Mustapha, who recently denied the contribution of Tinubu to the success of Buhari in the 2015 election, claiming that the former president already had 12 million votes before his alliance with Tinubu before the formation of the APC in 2014.

Onanuga's statement reads in part: “Before we plunge into an unwarranted debate about President Tinubu’s role in the enthronement of the Buhari presidency in 2015,” Onanuga wrote,

“here is a report quoting Babachir Lawal attesting to Tinubu’s pivotal role. The former SGF spoke about just one aspect of Tinubu’s role. Tinubu also ensured that Buhari won the APC ticket, defeating the challenges from Atiku and Kwankwaso.”

He continued: “Then, he gave Buhari what had been missing in his constant 12 million votes: geographical spread and additional votes from the South West. President Jonathan knew that the South West would decide the winner of the 2015 election, as he spent weeks in the zone trying to garner support. He failed. Buhari won.”


Onanuga citing comments by former SGF Babachir Lawal, who had acknowledged Tinubu’s role but, according to Onanuga, had only scratched the surface.


Also weighing in, Senator Abu Ibrahim, a close associate of both Tinubu and Buhari, said Mustapha lacked understanding of the political arrangements that led to Buhari’s win.

“I think it was wrong of him (Mustapha) to make that statement, because he was not in the midst of the political arrangement at that time. He didn’t know what happened. He just became Secretary to the Government later, but there was a long movement before Buhari and Tinubu came together,” Senator Ibrahim said in an interview with Daily Trust.

He recalled that while Buhari had secured millions of votes in previous elections, he consistently failed to meet the constitutional requirement of 25 percent in two-thirds of the states.

“I was always advising him to get somebody from the South who was strong and could give him that 25 percent. I told him to sit down with Asiwaju to form either a union or a new party. He agreed—and that’s how it started. It was only when Tinubu came on board that we were able to get the two-thirds requirement in the western states,” Ibrahim explained.

“Despite Buhari’s 12 million votes, it was the merger and Tinubu’s involvement that helped us meet the constitutional requirements. For Mustapha to say otherwise is wrong,” he added.

Another associate of former President Buhari, Hon. Farouk Adamu Aliyu, also echoed Senator Ibrahim’s position during an appearance on Channels Television, insisting that President Tinubu played a pivotal role in Buhari’s eventual emergence as president in 2015.

“Let’s not talk about the 12 million votes, because the 12 million votes did not translate into the presidency,” he said, arguing that without Tinubu’s backing, Buhari might have lost the APC presidential primary to either Atiku or Kwankwaso.

“Anybody trying to deconstruct history by claiming Tinubu did not contribute is simply wrong. So, let’s not take such statements too seriously,” he added.


On his part, another APC chieftain and associate of Buhari, Osita Okechukwu, said the former SGF should be excused due to his limited knowledge of the party’s early formation.

“There is no need for controversy because my friend Boss Mustapha should be excused—he was not with us in 2003 when Buhari began the presidential race. He was in the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and did not know the waters that passed under the realpolitik bridge. This is why he relied only on mathematical calculations in 2015, not on realpolitik,” he said.

Okechukwu recalled that in the 2003 presidential election, their legal team argued at the tribunal that Buhari had won the majority of votes—beyond the 12.7 million INEC attributed to him—an argument captured in Justice Sylvester Nsofor’s minority judgement.

“In 2011, our initial merger talks with Tinubu’s ACN failed and Buhari lost. But when we rekindled the talks and successfully merged in 2013, it led to the golden victory votes that propelled Buhari to power,” he said.

Okechukwu stressed that Tinubu’s unflinching support was decisive, noting that Tinubu had assured Buhari of his full backing and political structure despite his relationships with other northern political figures like Atiku Abubakar and Rabiu Kwankwaso.

“As a delegate of the defunct CPC, I witnessed how we were instructed to negotiate only with the ACN. At Chief Tom Ikimi’s house in Maitama, we refused to engage with ANPP and others. It took extensive negotiations before the APC was formed in July 2013.

Truly, without Asiwaju’s premium supplementary votes, there would have been no two-thirds spread and no victory,” he stated.

He added that in 2011, when a proposed merger with Tinubu’s ACN failed, Buhari again lost. But when the alliance was rekindled in 2013, it led to “the premium golden victory votes that propelled our principal to Aso Rock.”

In the 2020 report, Babachir Lawal, who served under Buhari before the termination of his appointment in 2017, explained how the then Tinubu raised funds for the then All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Buhari, to win the 2015 presidential election.

TimeManager:
https://dailytrust.com/2015-presidency-apc-leaders-fault-boss-mustapha/

Educationalserv:
Rocha of Apga , Saraki of Npdp and five governors and ANPP all supported buhari the additional 3.8m vote south west only added 2.4
Rochas Apga brought in 700k
Saraki and Co brought in 1m
But Tinibu is claiming all

Educationalserv:
Rocha of Apga , Saraki of Npdp and five governors and ANPP all supported buhari the additional 3.8m vote south west only added 2.4
Rochas Apga brought in 700k
Saraki and Co brought in 1m
But Tinibu is claiming all

Putindbutt:
Mustapha is a clown 🤡. There's a reason why Buhari and APC named Tinubu the national leader of APC. It is only the President that we know who is the leader of a party but APC and notherners recognized Tinubu's efforts and called him their national leader throughout Buhari's eight years.

TimeManager:
Next time, before rushing to comment, first take your time to read, assimilate and understand the context of the article. It will do you a lot of good.

-Kiss the truth!

TimeManager:
On his part, another APC chieftain and associate of Buhari, Osita Okechukwu, said the former SGF should be excused due to his limited knowledge of the party’s early formation.

“There is no need for controversy because my friend Boss Mustapha should be excused—he was not with us in 2003 when Buhari began the presidential race. He was in the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and did not know the waters that passed under the realpolitik bridge. This is why he relied only on mathematical calculations in 2015, not on realpolitik,” he said

https://dailytrust.com/2015-presidency-apc-leaders-fault-boss-mustapha/

‘How Atiku saved Obasanjo from near bankruptcy before he emerged president’‘

A new book has revealed how former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, saved ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo from near bankruptcy before he emerged president in 1999.

According to the new book, entitled ‘’Too Good to Die: Third Term and the Myth of the Indispensable Man in Africa,’ Atiku made all his resources available for Obasanjo’s presidential campaign.

The book, written by former chairman of National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, Chidi Odinkalu, and Ayisha Osori, author of ‘’Love Does Not Win Elections,” also revealed how Obasanjo beat late Alex Ekwueme to the presidential ticket of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 1999 election.

Quoting an account from Atiku, the authors said the trio of Ibrahim Babangida, Theophilus Danjuma and Abdulsalami Abubakar wanted PDP to adopt Obasanjo as their presidential candidate “because they considered him the best person for the job.”

“Implicit in their position was their belief that they knew how to manipulate Obasanjo and the fact that Obasanjo did their bidding in 1979. They felt secure that he could be managed again,” the authors wrote.

Atiku was reportedly asked to join a team to Ogun to inform Obasanjo that he was going to run for the highest office in the land.

“When Atiku and Obasanjo discussed the call to serve as president, Obasanjo said he could not be president because he was a nearly bankrupt ex-convict. Atiku, through General (Aliyu) Gusau, paid money into Obasanjo’s account to begin his financial rehabilitation.

“Head of State Abdulsalami Abubakar helped out by granting him an unconditional pardon. Atiku put everything he had at his disposal to support Obasanjo’s emergence as the PDP presidential candidate and, when he joined the ticket as the vice-presidential nominee, continued to make his assets available to Obasanjo and the campaign.

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/09/how-atiku-saved-obasanjo-from-near-bankruptcy-before-he-emerged-president/

Disenfranchised:
The president is the leader of the party at national level so is the governor at state level. That was just to bloat his ego but tinubu is the president after all. His lifelong ambition as been actuallized let him go for a more competent southerner.

Kalulu44:
There's something most of these people supporting Tinubu in this matter is not getting right. Nobody is saying Tinubu didn't help in Buhari's emergence as president. Tinubu did by adding his south west numbers to the millions Buhari already had. But that did not automatically made Tinubu the one who made Buhari the president. Tinubu tried no doubt with both his votes and finance. But only Tinubu south west votes wouldn't have won the election. So Tinubu votes was just like a salt added to a soup to bring out its taste, Buhari and his support groups has almost done the finishing of the soup, and that's what Boss Mustapha is trying to say

TimeManager:
https://dailytrust.com/2015-presidency-apc-leaders-fault-boss-mustapha/