If Not for Tinubu, Buhari Wouldn’t Have Won APC Primary – Presidency Replies Boss Mustapha

The Presidency has asserted that without the strategic support of President Bola Tinubu, former President Muhammadu Buhari would not have secured the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential ticket in 2014. This claim was made by Temitope Ajayi, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, in response to recent remarks by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha.

Mustapha had stated during a book launch authored by Garba Shehu, former media aide to Buhari, that no single individual was solely responsible for Buhari’s rise to the presidency. He emphasized Buhari’s consistent backing of 12.5 million loyal voters prior to the 2015 general election and noted that the alliance of legacy parties that formed the APC contributed an additional three million votes. According to Mustapha, this collective strength led to Buhari’s victory over then-incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan.

Ajayi, however, challenged this narrative on his official X account, describing Mustapha’s position as a distortion of recent political history. He argued that Buhari’s eventual success in the 2015 general election was predicated on first winning the APC presidential primary—something he said would not have been possible without Tinubu’s decisive backing.

According to Ajayi, Tinubu played a pivotal role in securing Buhari’s nomination at the APC primary held at Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos. He claimed Tinubu was instrumental in uniting APC governors and rallying delegates from the South West to support Buhari’s candidacy. Ajayi also stressed that while Buhari had a loyal Northern voter base, he failed in three consecutive presidential elections—2003, 2007, and 2011—before aligning with Tinubu’s political machinery in 2014.

Ajayi urged that the critical contributions that led to Buhari’s eventual victory should not be diminished, underscoring the importance of Tinubu’s role in shaping the party’s electoral success.

Meanwhile, political observers point to increasing signs of friction within the APC, citing actions by Buhari loyalists such as former Kaduna governor Nasir el-Rufai and former Attorney General Abubakar Malami. These figures are reportedly resisting Tinubu’s re-election ambitions, prompting concern among some of his supporters about Buhari’s silence and lack of intervention.