• Boss Mustapha, former secretary to the federal government, said his ex-President Muhammadu Buhari allowed institutions of the state to work
• Mustapha said Buhari would be remembered for a legacy defined by disciplined leadership, institutional reforms, and long-term governance frameworks
• The former government official spoke at the public presentation of a book written by Buhari’s former spokesperson, Garba Shehu, titled ‘According to the President’

Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 9 years of experience covering elections, politics, and governance in Nigeria.

FCT, Abuja – Boss Mustapha, a one-time secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), has said former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration laid a firm foundation for a prosperous Nigeria.

Speaking in Abuja on Wednesday, July 9, at the launch of Garba Shehu’s book, ‘According to the President: Lessons From A Presidential Spokesman’s Experience,’ the former SGF shared his thoughts on his former boss’ “reform legacy” as well as the current President Bola Tinubu’s consolidation drive.

Mustapha praised the Buhari administration, highlighting the structural foundation purportedly laid for national development across multiple sectors.

The former SGF said:

“The baton of leadership has passed, but the relay of reform continues.”

This approach, Mustapha noted, underscores the importance of continuity and consistency in governance, ensuring that the progress made under one administration is built upon and sustained by the next.

‘Tinubu didn’t make Buhari president’ — Mustapha

Meanwhile, Mustapha dismissed the claims that President Tinubu made Buhari president in 2015.

Mustapha said forming the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2015 was instrumental and that it paved the way for the first democratic defeat of an incumbent ruling party in Nigeria’s history. However, he said, Buhari was already famous and had over 12 million votes in his kitty before the 2015 election.

Mustapha said:

“The merger of the legacy parties merely contributed three million votes to his victory at the 2015 presidential election.”

He added:

“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.

“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.

“When you sum up the total votes that gave us victory in 2015, the aggregate of the total votes was 15.4 million votes. So, what we brought to the table, the other parties that were in the matter, in addition to Buhari’s 12.2 million votes, were 3.2 million votes.”

Lauretta Onochie supports Mustapha’s claim

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Lauretta Onochie, a former special assistant (SA) on social media to Buhari, also said President Tinubu did not support Buhari’s emergence as the candidate of the APC in 2014.

Onochie shared a front page of the Nigerian Tribune with the headline: ‘Buhari’s popularity won 12.5 million votes for APC in 2014’, via her personal X account, praising Mustapha for ending what she described as a “lie” about Buhari’s emergence in 2014.

Mustapha’s claim, the former presidential aide said Tinubu did not make Buhari Nigeria’s President, adding that “every lie has an expiry date.”

Source: Legit.ng