The Presidency has said that without Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s strong support in 2014, former President Muhammadu Buhari would not have been able to win the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primary.
This was made known by Temitope Ajayi, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, following comments made by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha. Mustapha had earlier said at a book launch that Buhari’s 2015 victory was not due to the actions of one person alone.
The event, held in Abuja, was for the launch of a book written by Mallam Garba Shehu, who served as media aide to President Buhari. While speaking at the launch, Mustapha stated that “no single individual was responsible for Buhari’s emergence as President.”
He also noted that before the 2015 elections, Buhari already had a strong base of loyal voters—around 12.5 million. The merger of other political parties into the APC added another 3 million votes, according to him. He explained that this joint force helped Buhari secure the estimated 15 million votes he needed to defeat former President Goodluck Jonathan.
However, Ajayi responded via his X account @TheTope_Ajayi, saying Mustapha’s comments gave a false picture of what actually happened.
He wrote, “Let us even leave the general election that then-General Buhari won to become president in 2015. There is no way he would have won the election to be president without first becoming the presidential candidate of his party, APC.”
Ajayi added that Buhari’s path to winning the APC primary at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos in 2014 would not have been possible without Tinubu’s efforts. He said Tinubu helped gather the support of APC governors and delegates from the South West, which proved crucial to Buhari’s success.
“Every effort and support that made it possible for President Buhari to win should never be diminished. Buhari had his 12 million captive Northern votes, yet he lost three presidential elections in 2003, 2007, and 2011,” Ajayi said.
