Mustafa was appointed to become Minister of State-Owned Enterprises in the Second United Indonesia Cabinet, which was announced on 21 October 2009 following the re-election of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Mustafa was brought into the cabinet after reforming the Indonesian Bureau of Logistics (Bulog), whose previous Chairman, Widjanarko Puspoyo, had been involved in a corruption scandal.

[1] Mustafa Abubakar spent his childhood in Meureudu, the capital of the Pidie Jaya Regency in Aceh.

[2] In addition, the key Memorandum of Understanding signed in Helsinki in August 2005 to establish peace in the province after nearly 30 years of internal conflict was being implemented.

[5] In 2010, Mustafa sought to resurrect a controversial plan to improve ties with Iran by investing in an Iranian fertiliser factory.