Human rights activist and lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, has slammed former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, over claims that former President Muhammadu Buhari won the 2015 presidential election solely on the strength of his existing voter base.

Boss Mustapha, speaking at the launch of “According to the President: Lessons from a Presidential Spokesperson’s Experience”, a book by Buhari’s ex-spokesman Garba Shehu, insisted that Buhari’s 12 million “loyal votes” were the key to his 2015 victory, downplaying the role played by the political coalition that brought together powerful figures like Bola Tinubu.

According to Mustapha, while the merger of legacy parties contributed roughly three million votes, it was Buhari’s established popularity that secured the win.

However, Adeyanju, unimpressed by what he described as an attempt to “rewrite history,” argued on social media that Buhari’s repeated losses in past elections showed he could never have defeated Goodluck Jonathan on his own.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Adeyanju wrote:

“The statement of Boss Mustapha yesterday that Buhari won 2015 election all by himself because he brought in 12 million votes is beyond delusional, it is an attempt to re-write history.

The coalition won the 2015 election and not Buhari. Buhari was a serial loser like Atiku before the coalition happened.”

He went on to point out that the 2015 election was a collective effort, with almost every political heavyweight and a wave of public sentiment rallying against Jonathan. From PDP governors who defected, to Tinubu’s strategic influence, to international support and a hopeful populace eager for change—many forces joined hands to unseat Jonathan.

“Almost everyone ganged up against GEJ to help Buhari win the election… from the PDP governors that defected to join the then coalition, those who didn’t leave but worked against him, to Tinubu, Atiku, Amaechi, Barack Obama, and even naive citizens who thought Buhari and APC would transform Nigeria,” Adeyanju wrote.

This fiery exchange highlights how, even years later, the narratives around Nigeria’s historic 2015 elections remain deeply contested. While some continue to credit Buhari’s personal political clout, others, like Adeyanju, insist it was the coalition that turned the tide—and that without it, Buhari might have remained, in his words, a “serial loser.”