“2015 Election Breakthrough: Buhari Presidency Rooted in Strategic Party Merger, Not Individual Effort”

Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, has denied claims that former President Muhammadu Buhari became president in 2015 solely due to the efforts of any single All Progressives Congress (APC) leader. Mustapha made the remarks during a book launch in Abuja, asserting that Buhari had already secured over 12 million votes before the party merger added approximately three million more votes.

Mustapha recalled that in June 2022, Bola Tinubu had visited Ogun State to highlight his alleged role in Buhari’s rise to the presidency, claiming he personally appointed Buhari as president, chose Yemi Osinbajo as vice president, and backed Dapo Abiodun as governor of Ogun State. Tinubu described the period as the culmination of over 25 years of political service and claimed he had been instrumental in guiding various party candidates, including Atiku Abubakar and Nuhu Ribadu, to secure tickets and elections.

However, Mustapha clarified that Buhari’s victory was largely the result of a strategic coalition-building process. In early 2013, while leading the now-defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Buhari endorsed the formation of a merger committee that united the CPC, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), and members of the ruling party who had broken away as the “new PDP.”

According to Mustapha, this coalition-building laid the groundwork for the first democratic defeat of an incumbent ruling party in Nigeria’s history. “President Buhari brought 12.5 million votes to the table,” he said, “while the combined votes of the merging parties added another 3.5 million, giving the coalition a strong advantage in the 2015 elections.”

He emphasized that the merger’s strategic planning, along with Buhari’s integrity, disciplined messaging, and national stature, were critical to his electoral success. Mustapha also noted that ACN, with six states, CPC with one, and ANPP with three states, created a voting bloc of 15.4 million votes, which, when combined with Buhari’s personal tally, secured the presidency.

The former SGF concluded that while Tinubu and other party leaders played important roles in unifying the factions, the 2015 Buhari presidency was the result of careful coalition-building and strategic alignment rather than the actions of any single individual.