“Tinubu Did Not Even Support Buhari’s Emergence in 2014” – Lauretta Onochie

Former presidential aide Lauretta Onochie has claimed that President Bola Tinubu did not back Muhammadu Buhari’s emergence as the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate in 2014. Posting on her verified X account on Thursday, Onochie referenced comments made by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, to support her claim and challenge what she called a long-standing false narrative.

“Every lie has an expiry date,” she wrote. “Yesterday, the lie that @officialABAT (Tinubu) made @MBuhari President, expired.” She added, “Thank you, Boss Mustapha, for puncturing the lies of those unsuccessfully trying to rewrite history. Me: Tinubu DID NOT even support Buhari’s emergence as candidate in 2014. Fact.”

Onochie’s remarks came after Mustapha, speaking at the launch of Garba Shehu’s memoir *According to the President: Lessons from a Presidential Spokesman Experience*, said Buhari’s personal popularity was central to the APC’s 2015 victory. “The CPC had only one state then, but the important votes that gave us victory came from the CPC. Buhari’s popularity won us 12.5 million votes,” Mustapha stated.

Onochie also shared a front page from the Nigerian Tribune bearing the same quote to further reinforce her argument. Her comments directly contradict the widely held belief that Tinubu played a decisive role in Buhari’s presidential bid and ultimate victory.

Although Tinubu was a leading figure in the 2013 APC merger—bringing together the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), and Buhari’s CPC—Onochie and Mustapha’s statements appear to challenge the narrative that Buhari’s rise to power was made possible by Tinubu’s political support.

While Tinubu’s leadership of the ACN and influence in the Southwest remain undisputed, this renewed debate casts fresh light on the political dynamics within the APC during the buildup to the 2015 elections.