Yoruba youths under the aegis of Yoruba Youth Socio-Cultural Association (YYSA), on Thursday, berated the immediate past Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, for diminishing the contribution of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria [ACN] and President Bola Tinubu to the 2015 victory of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Mustapha, while speaking at a book launch in Abuja, on wednesday, had said out of the over 15 million votes that brought victory to the All Progressives Congress [APC] in 2015, Buhari had 12 million votes while the ACN, Tinubu and other parties within the merger contributed about three million votes to it.
Reacting to the statement, the National President of YYSA, Olalekan Hammed, said Mustapha’s statement was far from the truth. Hammed said Buhari’s victory would not have been possible without Tinubu’s contribution and efforts.
He said: ”Barr. Boss Mustapha’s statement is far from the truth. As a lawyer, we expect him to be very analytical and not be judgemental in his comments. Former President Muhammadu Buhari’s popularity was limited to the north before 2015, it was President Bola Ahmed Tinubu that sold him to southerners. If not, he wouldn’t have become president in the 2015 election. Mr Boss Mustapha should be reminded that in 2011 despite the fact that former President Muhammadu Buhari had twelve million votes in northern Nigerian, in the entire South-South and Southeast, apart from Edo state that gave him 2.86 per cent votes, he didn’t have up to one per cent in any of the remaining ten states.
”Moreover, in that 2011 presidential election, with the popularity Buhari had in the north, his votes in Lagos state was 9.77 per cent, Ogun 3.25 per cent , Ondo 2.44 per cent , Osun 1.36 per cent , Oyo 10.70 per cent , Ekiti 1.03 per cent.
”Meanwhile, he was seriously opposed by his fellow northerners like former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Alhaji Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. If not for the intervention of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who is now Nigeria’s president, he wouldn’t have won the APC presidential ticket let alone emerge victorious in that 2015 election. Conclusively, president Bola Ahmed Tinubu bankrolled Buhari’s election more than any other person”.
