‘Not Tinubu’ – Boss Mustapha Reveals How Buhari Won 2015 Election

Boss Mustapha explained that the opposition parties which merged to form the APC in 2013 — the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), and All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) — contributed only three million votes out of the 15.4 million total votes that Buhari received in the 2015 elections.

Boss Mustapha, the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), has stated that it was the leadership of former President Muhammadu Buhari and the merger of opposition parties—not any singular political figure—that secured the All Progressives Congress (APC) its historic win in the 2015 general elections.

Speaking during the launch of “According to the President: Lessons From A Presidential Spokesman’s Experience”, a new book by Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Wednesday, Mustapha explained that the opposition parties which merged to form the APC in 2013 — the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), and All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) — contributed only three million votes out of the 15.4 million total votes that Buhari received in the 2015 elections.

According to him, “President Buhari’s integrity, national stature, and disciplined messaging were central to that breakthrough.”

He provided a breakdown of Buhari’s political journey through Nigeria’s electoral history:

“In the 2003 elections, it was the Obasanjo-Buhari contest where Buhari recorded 2.7 million votes. In the next elections, he got 12.7 million votes. In 2007, it came to 6.6 million, then back to 12.2 million in 2011,” Mustapha said.

He emphasized that Buhari had consistently built a loyal voting base over multiple election cycles, stating:

“Though the CPC had only one state, the ACN had six states, and the ANPP had three states. When you sum up the total votes that gave us the presidency in 2015, the aggregate was 15.4 million. So, basically, what we brought to the table after the merger outside the Buhari 12.5 million votes was three million.”

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Boss Mustapha further noted that while other political figures such as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and former Borno governor Ali Modu Sheriff played important roles in the APC’s formation, it was Buhari’s political capital that was the true game changer.

“His endorsement and participation, along with other party leaders such as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, lent credibility and direction to the merger, helping to unify disparate party factions under the banner of the All Progressives Congress (APC),” he said.

The statement seemingly downplays the often-celebrated role of Bola Tinubu in forging the APC and securing its first presidential victory.