Former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, has reaffirmed that President Bola Tinubu played a pivotal role in Muhammadu Buhari’s emergence as President in 2015, dismissing recent claims to the contrary by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha.
Speaking on Arise Television’s Prime Time on Thursday, Omokri rejected Mustapha’s assertion that Buhari never needed Tinubu to win the presidency, describing the claim as an attempt to stir division between the two political figures.
“Boss Mustapha was just being silly,” Omokri said. “There are people like him trying to cause friction between Buhari and Tinubu. Buhari had a captive vote of 12 million since 2003, but it never made him president.”
He argued that Buhari’s previous presidential bids in 2003 and 2011 failed despite his strong northern support base. According to Omokri, it was Tinubu’s political influence in the South-West that provided the crucial votes needed to clinch victory in 2015.
“The Nigerian political structure, as shaped since the Obasanjo-led military era, does not allow any regional strongman to win the presidency without national backing,” he noted.
Omokri concluded by stating that without Tinubu’s alliance, Goodluck Jonathan would have secured a second term and Buhari’s political relevance would have faded.
“Without Tinubu, Nigeria’s political history would have been different. Buhari would have remained a footnote, and Jonathan would have continued as president,” he said.
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