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The Special Adviser to the President on Public Communications and Orientation, Sunday Dare, has corroborated the claim that President Bola Tinubu played a pivotal role in the coming into office of his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari.
In 2015, Buhari achieved an unprecedented feat in Nigerian politics by defeating an incumbent President after he had been unsuccessful in three previous attempts in the 2003, 2007 and 2011 elections.
The retired military general ended the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) unbroken 16-year dominance by beating incumbent Goodluck Jonathan in the hotly-contested election.
However, the victory was achieved under the All Progressives Congress (APC), a product of a merger between Buhari’s Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Tinubu’s Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and some other parties.
Dare says Tinubu was instrumental in Buhari's victory
Reflecting on the efforts that produced the Daura-born politician in 2015, Dare said Tinubu played a crucial role in securing victory for the APC.
He made this known during an interview on Channels Television's Politics Today on Thursday, October 31, 2024.
“If you look at the role Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu played in the emergence of Muhammadu Buhari I can say clearly that without Tinubu’s role in forming the party, making the platform to be there, President Buhari would not have emerged,” he said.
The Presidential spokesman was asked if he sold the idea of fielding Buhari as the then-APC candidate and his reply was in the affirmative.
“It couldn’t have been only me, it was a team. The electoral victories we won in 2015 and the one in 2019 had the writing of President Tinubu. We are a party and beyond me, several other people were also invited,” he stated.
Dare also touched on the Buhari government's performance, a government in which he served as the Minister of Sports and Youth Development between 2019-2023.
The former Minister refused to declare that his former principal failed in his eight-year tenure, explaining that government is a continuum.
“Buhari came, did his bit and moved on. President Obasanjo did his bit and moved on, Yar’adua came, did his bit and moved on. Jonathan came, did his bit and moved on.
“President Bola Tinubu is there with the requisite experience, and courage to take tough decisions that other presidents did not take,” he added.
Instead of being derided, Dare said President Tinubu deserved commendation for having the courage to remove the subsidy on petrol and other bold reforms aimed at repositioning the nation's economy for sustainable growth.