Former secretary to the government of the federation, Boss Mustapha, has claimed Muhammadu Buhari’s integrity won him the 2015 polls, downplaying the effectiveness of Bola Tinubu’s party merger in contributing only 20 per cent of the 15.4 million total votes cast for the Daura-born politician.

Speaking at the book launch of ex-presidential aide Garba Shehu, the former SGF recounted how Mr Buhari — after three failed attempts — eventually came to power and unseated an incumbent. 

Mr Mustapha claimed that Mr Buhari’s discipline and integrity were the biggest factors that contributed to his victory, diminishing the role that Mr Tinubu’s alliance played in rallying the South West states to vote massively for the northerner.

“President Buhari’s integrity, national stature, and disciplined messaging were central to that breakthrough,” the former SGF claimed even as he reeled off Mr Buhari’s consistent underwhelming performance at the polls over a period of 12 years.

“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,” Mr Mustapha said.

According to him, Mr Buhari, without Mr Tinubu’s help, already scored over 12 million votes in the 2011 polls. Mr Mustapha, however, credited Mr Tinubu for the additional three million votes that tipped the 2015 election to Mr Buhari’s victory.

“So, basically, what we brought to the table after the merger outside the Buhari 12.5 million votes was three million.

“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,” he added.

He, however, admitted that Mr Tinubu’s endorsement of Mr Buhari and the merger boosted his chances of winning the presidential elections in 2015.

“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.

In the run-up to the 2023 election, Mr Tinubu derided Mr Buhari for not supporting his presidential ambition, recounting how his predecessor cried on television after losing the 2011 election.

“I went to meet him and told him this is not a crying matter: ‘We will support you and you will be president’,” Mr Tinubu told Ogun delegates while campaigning in 2022.

Some Northerners took offence at the statement and did not support Mr Tinubu, interpreting it as an insult to their kinsmen.