The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, has asserted that President Bola Tinubu played a decisive role in helping the immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari secure the All Progressives Congress (APC) 2015 presidential ticket—a feat Buhari could not have achieved on his own.
Ajayi’s comments were made in reaction to statements by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, during the launch of a book authored by Garba Shehu, who served as Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to President Buhari.
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At the event, Mustapha argued that Buhari’s rise to the presidency was not the result of any one person’s influence.
He backed this claim by referencing Buhari’s consistent voter base of 12.5 million people before the 2015 elections and the additional 3 million votes contributed by the APC coalition, culminating in the roughly 15 million votes that defeated then-incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
However, Ajayi, in a post shared via his X handle @TheTope_Ajayi, countered Mustapha’s remarks and accused him of rewriting political history.
“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 stated.
He underscored that Buhari’s emergence as the APC flagbearer at the 2014 primaries held at Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos would not have been possible without the strategic involvement of Tinubu.
According to Ajayi, Tinubu played a critical role by uniting key APC stakeholders, including governors and delegates from the South West, to support Buhari’s candidacy.
Ajayi added: “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.”
Amid these debates, some analysts have noted increasing tensions within the APC, pointing fingers at prominent Buhari-era loyalists such as former Kaduna State governor Nasir el-Rufai and former Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN).
These figures are believed to be part of a faction critical of Tinubu’s leadership and re-election aspirations.
Concerns have reportedly emerged among Tinubu’s allies over the silence of former President Buhari regarding the alleged actions of el-Rufai and Malami, which some perceive as undermining Tinubu’s position within the party.
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