Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, has revealed how President Muhammadu Buhari successfully toppled the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 presidential election.
According to him, Buhari formally requested the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) merger committee in 2013.
He explained that the 2013 merger involving the Action Congress of Nigeria, the new Peoples Democratic Party and other stakeholders contributed 3.2 million votes to aid ex-President Muhammadu Buhari’s victory.
Mustapha stated that choosing Buhari as the presidential candidate in 2015 was the most practical and strategic decision for the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He asserted that Buhari’s public service was defined not only by the offices he held but also by his deep bond with many Nigerians.
He disclosed this while delivering a lecture on Buhari’s role in national development, during the public presentation of “According to the President: Lessons from a Presidential Spokesman’s Experience,” a book authored by former presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, in Abuja, on Wednesday,
He stated, “In early 2013, as the leader of the Congress for Progressive Change, President Buhari, formally requested and supported the creation of the CPC merger committee, part of a broader coalition-building process that brought together the ACN, the party under which I served as the Deputy National Chairman at that time.
“We also had our own transition merger committee, the ANPP, and a fraction of others. And elements of the ruling party, through the breakaway New PDP group, his endorsement and participation, along with other party leaders such as President Bola Tinubu and Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, who was the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the ANPP lent credence, credibility, and direction to the merger, helping to unify it.
“This led to significant participation under the banner of the All Progressives Congress. That coalition built and paved the way for the first democratic defeat of an incumbent ruling party in Nigeria’s history. President Buhari’s integrity, national stature, and disciplined messaging were central to that breakthrough.”
He noted that upon assuming office in May 2015, Buhari faced significant economic and security crises, marked by falling oil prices, declining revenue, and a rising Boko Haram threat, and responded with fiscal discipline, increased capital spending, and institutional reforms to stabilise the nation and restore public trust.
The former SGF said Buhari would be remembered not only for performance but for principles, for anchoring governance in systems that endure.
“Each administration inherits unfinished work and must carry it forward with clarity and conviction. In this sense, Buhari’s leadership was not about finality, but about setting things in motion; reforms that could outlast him, institutions that could withstand political tides, and a temperament that reminded the state of its quiet obligations to its citizens,” he said.