Mustapha, while speaking at a book presentation in Abuja, said Buhari had brought a significant amount of goodwill to give himself victory; dismissing claims that Tinubu, then a chieftain of the newly formed All Progressive Congress at the time made a huge difference.
He maintained that the merger only produced three million votes in addition to Buhari’s existing 12 million votes in the North.
Tinubu had in 2022 during his tour of the state over his electioneering, declared that he made Buhari the President of Nigeria.
He had also said he presented his former Attorney General Professor Yemi Osinbajo as his running mate, while noting that the incumbent Governor of Ogun state, Prince Dapo Abiodun could not have been elected as governor of Ogun State if not for his benevolence.
NPO Reports that the APC was the outcome of a merger among the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the All Progressive Grand Alliance and All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP).
The event was the presentation of the book by former presidential spokesperson, Mallam Garba Shehu titled “According to the President: Lessons From A Presidential Spokesman’s Experience.”
Mustapha said that the coalition-building paved the way for the first democratic defeat of an incumbent ruling party in Nigeria’s history.
Mustapha said “Mustapha noted that “President Buhari’s integrity, national stature, and disciplined messaging were central to that breakthrough.”
“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,” he said.
“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.”
Mustapha said the involvement of key figures such as President Bola Tinubu and Ali Modu Sheriff, former governor of Borno, lent credibility and direction to the merger.
“His endorsement and participation, along with other party leaders such as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Senator Ali Modu Sherif, lent credibility and direction to the merger, helping to unify disparate party factions under the banner of the All Progressives Congress (APC),” he said.
