Former President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has never hidden his ambition to be president of Nigeria and his eyes remain on the ball. In this report, Segun James looks at the politics of a man, who has suddenly become an issue in the match towards 2023

Two years after Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki left office as the President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he is still an issue in the nation’s body polity, more so as he assumed a prominent place in the leadership of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Since leaving office, he has not only been a rallying point for the party, he has also spent his time reconciling the fractured party and getting it ready for the 2023 general election.

Synergy may not be an ideal word in politics, yet, accepted political management theory holds that, there are a few ways for a party to boost its value, most especially among states controlled by it. This has been the work of Saraki in the last few months.

However, there’s a reason for Saraki’s efforts. Kit is not just because he has his eyes on the presidency in 2023, but really, what’s an ambition without a viable platform? In addition, he believes the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has performed badly in the last six years, hence the need to go for a competent and capable hand that can lead the nation out of the doldrums.

He is neither from the core north nor from the south. He comes from the middle belt, a part of the country that has also been agitating that the presidency should be zoned to them. He believes he would be a unifier in a nation that is torn between ethnic and religious divides. He has been going round the country, promising, albeit on behalf of the party, to make a country suffering collapse of confidence to stand tall again.

Until Saraki was being harassed by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) for alleged financial crimes committed as governor of Kwara State from 2007 to 2015, that it became known to many that he might have been marked for decimation.

Although the EFCC has denied arresting him over allegations of fraud and money laundering, but his invitation was evidently suspect. EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren said contrary to reports, the former governor of Kwara simply honoured the invitation of the commission, stressing that he was not arrested.

“It is true he was invited, and he responded but there are no details at the moment,” said Uwujaren

Saraki was said to have been arrested in Abuja shortly after attending a wedding ceremony of the daughter of one of his loyalists and the Third Republic Kwara State governor, Senator Shaaba Lafiagi.

A statement by his Media Office, signed by Alhaji Yusuph Olaniyonu, also confirmed that Saraki was invited to clarify issues that the commission raised with him, but was never arrested.

“Following the order of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on the Fundamental Human Rights case filed by Saraki during the period of the former Chairman of the EFCC, which precluded the commission from investigating him until the matter is dispensed with, the commission at the last hearing on July 14, 2021, pleaded with the judge that the order was preventing them from doing their job.

“Following this complaint, Saraki, as a responsible citizen, on his own volition approached the commission that at the earliest convenient date, he was willing to visit the commission’s office and clarify all issues they might want to raise with him.

“He, therefore, visited the commission’s office this afternoon and answered some questions. He is back home. He was not arrested. Saraki also assured the commission that he has nothing to hide and will always make himself available to clear all issues that may require his attention.”

If there was one thing that the former President of the United States of America, Mr. Donald Trump has, it is to intuitively see the future opposition. It was this that made him ask the Ukrainian government to investigate and discredit a yet to be nominated Joe Biden as the candidate of the opposition Democratic Party.

It was this intuition that also made him say, even before the 2020 election that, “I will not concede if I lose as it would be deemed corrupt.” Both scenarios became true. Today, in Nigeria, a similar scenario is playing out. The attempt to discredit potential opposition candidates by the ruling APC is the name of the game.

Saraki is no stranger to controversy. The former president of the senate was one of the five governors that crossed the Rubicon by defecting from the PDP to the newly formed congregation of political parties, the APC in 2013, a move that led to the loss of power by the PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan to APC’s Muhammadu Buhari in 2015.

Not long after that, he had another reason to return to his PDP. The move, this time, did not achieve the dramatic effect of the first.

Exceptional times call for exceptional measures. This appears to be the situation in the Nigerian polity. Yes, politics has begun in earnest and the race for 2023 is hotting up; and Saraki is one of the people on the front line.

Over the past decades, Saraki has been a recurring decimal in the political scene of Nigeria. Either as governor of Kwara State or President of the Senate, he had consciously stayed politically relevant since 1999, building bridges across the different divides.

For Saraki, taking the road less travelled has often led to better results, even though very controversial. But one that is often overlooked: crisscrossing from the PDP to the APC and back is no big deal.

Scion of the enigmatic Ilorin political leader, Dr. Olusola Saraki, Bukola took his first tottering steps in politics at the coming of the 4th Republic and within a few years, stepped out of his father’s shadows and established himself as a leader and force to be reckoned with.

However, the surprising thing about Saraki’s invitation by the EFCC for alleged corruption charges committed while in office as governor was not the allegation, but the timing.

Saraki is today one of the leading contenders for the presidential ticket of the opposition PDP, even though none has openly declared for the nation’s number seat. Given his antecedent as a political strategist, the belief in some quarters is that the invitation was a warning sign of things to come.

The story of Saraki is the tale of a man that has been able to defy the odds at every turn. Until the “Otògé” movement in Kwara, which uprooted his stranglehold on the state’spolitics, Saraki, like his father, had been able to negotiate himself into the national consciousness and reckoning.

But the Otògé movement, which changed the dynamics in the state politics, uprooted Saraki and his loyalists from the state’s political system, has turned out positive. Barely two years later, Saraki is not just back into the reckoning, he is the in-thing, a situation that is giving the state governor sleepless nights.

A few years ago, PDP’s political hegemony in Nigeria was unassailable, but today, all of that is history. No thanks to Saraki and others, who left the party. But now that he is back to the fold, could he repeat the magic of 2013? That remains one of the salient questions as the race towards 2023 inches closer.

In politics, culture splits wildly. Politics encourages one another to cross-carpet along the political divide without regard to ideological difference.

The going forth and back by Saraki and a former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has been a source of concern for some of the electorate, who have keyed into their ideologies. But, surely, there is a similarity between the PDP and the APC, which in fact, is the reason for the seeming confusion over the ideal choice among the voting Nigerians. It is the lack of ideology between both parties.

Every crisis is a challenge and an opportunity. Yesterday’s solutions are often unsuitable for today’s victory. Since Saraki’s reconciliation committee started working, the PDP seemed to have gotten its groove back. The party is not only on its way back from the edge of extinction but from all indications, it may end up giving the APC a run for its money and vanished goodwill.

With Nigerians fed up with the almost eight years of the APC and President Buhari, there is certainly hope for the opposition party; and Saraki seems to be one of the “great white hopes” that could drive the process. But will he and the PDP succeed?

https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2021/10/5/2023-and-oloye-sarakis-irresistible-charm/

Ok

He should not bother contesting Kwara state as an example of a failed doctor governing a state with no known infrastructure to say he did a fantastic job. What do you call a fantastic job something your opponents can't oppose but commend you for a great idea. 8 years as governor nothing to show for it.
Been British does not mean you have the right to be a Nigerian President when you can't even make laws for 4 years that would help keep citizens safe from bad presidents. Back to Kwara the state Kwara is at the moment says that Saraki is out of his depth to think he can contest because he can speak Queens English.
Saraki lacks the leadership qualities to think he can come and rule us. People like gov Fashola has not come out Saraki is coming out. If you can't change Ilorin you can't change Nigeria, my friends.

People, we need leaders with ideas that will move us forward, Saraki is backward. He is a salary and celebrity governor that's all he has to offer nothing else.
If I were to be a medical doctor and a governor, Kwara would have been a medical tourist state where governors will be travelling to for medical check up.

pavoda:
Former President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has never hidden his ambition to be president of Nigeria and his eyes remain on the ball. In this report, Segun James looks at the politics of a man, who has suddenly become an issue in the match towards 2023

Two years after Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki left office as the President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he is still an issue in the nation’s body polity, more so as he assumed a prominent place in the leadership of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Since leaving office, he has not only been a rallying point for the party, he has also spent his time reconciling the fractured party and getting it ready for the 2023 general election.

Synergy may not be an ideal word in politics, yet, accepted political management theory holds that, there are a few ways for a party to boost its value, most especially among states controlled by it. This has been the work of Saraki in the last few months.

However, there’s a reason for Saraki’s efforts. Kit is not just because he has his eyes on the presidency in 2023, but really, what’s an ambition without a viable platform? In addition, he believes the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has performed badly in the last six years, hence the need to go for a competent and capable hand that can lead the nation out of the doldrums.

He is neither from the core north nor from the south. He comes from the middle belt, a part of the country that has also been agitating that the presidency should be zoned to them. He believes he would be a unifier in a nation that is torn between ethnic and religious divides. He has been going round the country, promising, albeit on behalf of the party, to make a country suffering collapse of confidence to stand tall again.

Until Saraki was being harassed by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) for alleged financial crimes committed as governor of Kwara State from 2007 to 2015, that it became known to many that he might have been marked for decimation.

Although the EFCC has denied arresting him over allegations of fraud and money laundering, but his invitation was evidently suspect. EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren said contrary to reports, the former governor of Kwara simply honoured the invitation of the commission, stressing that he was not arrested.

“It is true he was invited, and he responded but there are no details at the moment,” said Uwujaren

Saraki was said to have been arrested in Abuja shortly after attending a wedding ceremony of the daughter of one of his loyalists and the Third Republic Kwara State governor, Senator Shaaba Lafiagi.

A statement by his Media Office, signed by Alhaji Yusuph Olaniyonu, also confirmed that Saraki was invited to clarify issues that the commission raised with him, but was never arrested.

“Following the order of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on the Fundamental Human Rights case filed by Saraki during the period of the former Chairman of the EFCC, which precluded the commission from investigating him until the matter is dispensed with, the commission at the last hearing on July 14, 2021, pleaded with the judge that the order was preventing them from doing their job.

“Following this complaint, Saraki, as a responsible citizen, on his own volition approached the commission that at the earliest convenient date, he was willing to visit the commission’s office and clarify all issues they might want to raise with him.

“He, therefore, visited the commission’s office this afternoon and answered some questions. He is back home. He was not arrested. Saraki also assured the commission that he has nothing to hide and will always make himself available to clear all issues that may require his attention.”

If there was one thing that the former President of the United States of America, Mr. Donald Trump has, it is to intuitively see the future opposition. It was this that made him ask the Ukrainian government to investigate and discredit a yet to be nominated Joe Biden as the candidate of the opposition Democratic Party.

It was this intuition that also made him say, even before the 2020 election that, “I will not concede if I lose as it would be deemed corrupt.” Both scenarios became true. Today, in Nigeria, a similar scenario is playing out. The attempt to discredit potential opposition candidates by the ruling APC is the name of the game.

Saraki is no stranger to controversy. The former president of the senate was one of the five governors that crossed the Rubicon by defecting from the PDP to the newly formed congregation of political parties, the APC in 2013, a move that led to the loss of power by the PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan to APC’s Muhammadu Buhari in 2015.

Not long after that, he had another reason to return to his PDP. The move, this time, did not achieve the dramatic effect of the first.

Exceptional times call for exceptional measures. This appears to be the situation in the Nigerian polity. Yes, politics has begun in earnest and the race for 2023 is hotting up; and Saraki is one of the people on the front line.

Over the past decades, Saraki has been a recurring decimal in the political scene of Nigeria. Either as governor of Kwara State or President of the Senate, he had consciously stayed politically relevant since 1999, building bridges across the different divides.

For Saraki, taking the road less travelled has often led to better results, even though very controversial. But one that is often overlooked: crisscrossing from the PDP to the APC and back is no big deal.

Scion of the enigmatic Ilorin political leader, Dr. Olusola Saraki, Bukola took his first tottering steps in politics at the coming of the 4th Republic and within a few years, stepped out of his father’s shadows and established himself as a leader and force to be reckoned with.

However, the surprising thing about Saraki’s invitation by the EFCC for alleged corruption charges committed while in office as governor was not the allegation, but the timing.

Saraki is today one of the leading contenders for the presidential ticket of the opposition PDP, even though none has openly declared for the nation’s number seat. Given his antecedent as a political strategist, the belief in some quarters is that the invitation was a warning sign of things to come.

The story of Saraki is the tale of a man that has been able to defy the odds at every turn. Until the “Otògé” movement in Kwara, which uprooted his stranglehold on the state’spolitics, Saraki, like his father, had been able to negotiate himself into the national consciousness and reckoning.

But the Otògé movement, which changed the dynamics in the state politics, uprooted Saraki and his loyalists from the state’s political system, has turned out positive. Barely two years later, Saraki is not just back into the reckoning, he is the in-thing, a situation that is giving the state governor sleepless nights.

A few years ago, PDP’s political hegemony in Nigeria was unassailable, but today, all of that is history. No thanks to Saraki and others, who left the party. But now that he is back to the fold, could he repeat the magic of 2013? That remains one of the salient questions as the race towards 2023 inches closer.

In politics, culture splits wildly. Politics encourages one another to cross-carpet along the political divide without regard to ideological difference.

The going forth and back by Saraki and a former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has been a source of concern for some of the electorate, who have keyed into their ideologies. But, surely, there is a similarity between the PDP and the APC, which in fact, is the reason for the seeming confusion over the ideal choice among the voting Nigerians. It is the lack of ideology between both parties.

Every crisis is a challenge and an opportunity. Yesterday’s solutions are often unsuitable for today’s victory. Since Saraki’s reconciliation committee started working, the PDP seemed to have gotten its groove back. The party is not only on its way back from the edge of extinction but from all indications, it may end up giving the APC a run for its money and vanished goodwill.

With Nigerians fed up with the almost eight years of the APC and President Buhari, there is certainly hope for the opposition party; and Saraki seems to be one of the “great white hopes” that could drive the process. But will he and the PDP succeed?

https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2021/10/5/2023-and-oloye-sarakis-irresistible-charm/

He can win the pdp National chairmanship election but presidency is not for Bukola

PDP Alaga has been zoned to Ariwa. BUKOLA OMO ODUDUWA NIYEN

sageb:


He can win the pdp National chairmanship election but presidency is not for Bukola

You like living in an utopia. Welldone! Has the current leadership of kwara fared any better? Fashola is not in the same political class as The former Senate President. Unbiasedly adjudged the Best Senate President Nigeria has ever produced.Its in fact Fashola that has been the greatest disappointment ever. He has been Minister for so long and faded out of the consciousness of Nigerians.The only memory left of him is ask Lekki Toll Gate Jack Bauer

slimfit1:
He should not bother contesting Kwara state as an example of a failed doctor governing a state with no known infrastructure to say he did a fantastic job. What do you call a fantastic job something your opponents can't oppose but commend you for a great idea. 8 years as governor nothing to show for it.
Been British does not mean you have the right to be a Nigerian President when you can't even make laws for 4 years that would help keep citizens safe from bad presidents. Back to Kwara the state Kwara is at the moment says that Saraki is out of his depth to think he can contest because he can speak Queens English.
Saraki lacks the leadership qualities to think he can come and rule us. People like gov Fashola has not come out Saraki is coming out. If you can't change Ilorin you can't change Nigeria, my friends.

People, we need leaders with ideas that will move us forward, Saraki is backward. He is a salary and celebrity governor that's all he has to offer nothing else.
If I were to be a medical doctor and a governor, Kwara would have been a medical tourist state where governors will be travelling to for medical check up.

Do you know that until saraki become kwara governor, the state have state university, kwasu,International Aviation college, Advanced Diagnostic center, Songa farm investment, to mention but few

slimfit1:
He should not bother contesting Kwara state as an example of a failed doctor governing a state with no known infrastructure to say he did a fantastic job. What do you call a fantastic job something your opponents can't oppose but commend you for a great idea. 8 years as governor nothing to show for it.
Been British does not mean you have the right to be a Nigerian President when you can't even make laws for 4 years that would help keep citizens safe from bad presidents. Back to Kwara the state Kwara is at the moment says that Saraki is out of his depth to think he can contest because he can speak Queens English.
Saraki lacks the leadership qualities to think he can come and rule us. People like gov Fashola has not come out Saraki is coming out. If you can't change Ilorin you can't change Nigeria, my friends.

People, we need leaders with ideas that will move us forward, Saraki is backward. He is a salary and celebrity governor that's all he has to offer nothing else.
If I were to be a medical doctor and a governor, Kwara would have been a medical tourist state where governors will be travelling to for medical check up.

Mtcheeew useless post.no amount of hypo and detergent can wash saraki clean,the earlier you know that saraki won't rule Nigeria,the better for you.

You vote counts for just 1, He is as clean as the average nigerian politician.

haffaze777:
Mtcheeew useless post.no amount of hypo and detergent can wash saraki clean,the earlier you know that saraki won't rule Nigeria,the better for you.

pavoda:
You vote counts for just 1, He is as clean as the average nigerian politician.

U go wait tire for him to become president

pavoda:
You like living in an utopia. Welldone! Has the current leadership of kwara fared any better? Fashola is not in the same political class as The former Senate President. Unbiasedly adjudged the Best Senate President Nigeria has ever produced.Its in fact Fashola that has been the greatest disappointment ever. He has been Minister for so long and faded out of the consciousness of Nigerians.The only memory left of him is ask Lekki Toll Gate Jack Bauer

Dude Fashola is a million better than Saraki interms of performances.

He has not shown it in his ministry! Don't talk about Lagos. He generated 5 times the IGR income of Kwara State

Dapson73:




Dude Fashola is a million better than Saraki interms of performances.

pavoda:
He has not shown it in his ministry! Don't talk about Lagos. He generated 5 times the IGR income of Kwara State

He couldn't perform beyond the allocation released to his ministries. Thank God you confirmed from your statement that I shouldn't talk about Lagos meaning he performed so well as a governor of Lagos state.
He was the only ACN governor then in the whole Nigeria, his performances for just 4 years as a Lagos governor sold out all South West states PDP controlled states include Ogun, Oyo, Osun and Ekiti only Ondo was retained by Labour party.
That's to tell you Fashola is very capable than Saraki.

I also told you the reason why he performed well. He is allocated 4 times what Kwara Gets as Lagos Gov.Now you speak about his inability to perform due to lack of funds in his ministry. Godswill Akpabio didd excellent in Akwa Ibom does not mean he is more capable ..

Dapson73:





He couldn't perform beyond the allocation released to his ministries. Thank God you confirmed from your statement that I shouldn't talk about Lagos meaning he performed so well as a governor of Lagos state.
He was the only ACN governor then in the whole Nigeria, his performances for just 4 years as a Lagos governor sold out all South West states PDP controlled states include Ogun, Oyo, Osun and Ekiti only Ondo was retained by Labour party.
That's to tell you Fashola is very capable than Saraki.

Even if we are fed up of APC or the vegetable in Aso rock, Saraki is not an option.
Like I always say Bukola is a wolf in sheep clothing.
The level of corruption during his administration as Kwara Governor and when he was the godfather to the outgone Governor of Kwara Abdulfatah Ahmed was so enormous.

If he gets Presidency we are doomed

slimfit1:
He should not bother contesting Kwara state as an example of a failed doctor governing a state with no known infrastructure to say he did a fantastic job. What do you call a fantastic job something your opponents can't oppose but commend you for a great idea. 8 years as governor nothing to show for it.
Been British does not mean you have the right to be a Nigerian President when you can't even make laws for 4 years that would help keep citizens safe from bad presidents. Back to Kwara the state Kwara is at the moment says that Saraki is out of his depth to think he can contest because he can speak Queens English.
Saraki lacks the leadership qualities to think he can come and rule us. People like gov Fashola has not come out Saraki is coming out. If you can't change Ilorin you can't change Nigeria, my friends.

People, we need leaders with ideas that will move us forward, Saraki is backward. He is a salary and celebrity governor that's all he has to offer nothing else.
If I were to be a medical doctor and a governor, Kwara would have been a medical tourist state where governors will be travelling to for medical check up.

Those that have never been to Kwara will vouch for him and blindly support him but if Saraki ever get Presidency this country is doomed
Corruption will be walking freely on our roads, there won't be infrastructural development.
His reign as Kwara Governor took Kwara backward.
If Bukola Saraki worked like the present Kwara Governor, Kwara would have been competing with states like Lagos and Oyo in terms of IGR and infrastructure.
But he was only concerned about how to embezzle money and inflate projects funds for his selfish gains.
During his reign almost all the health centres in Ilorin have no functioning equipments, some hospitals were housing goats because they were so bad.
The new Governor is refurbishing those hospitals from the state capital to all the 16 local government.
The good thing is that he isn't only focused on the State capital all the local government areas are enjoying dividends of democracy.
Many LGAs without access to pipe borne water now have water, they have standard health care.
Salaries are no longer paid in percentages like it was before. Bukola and Abdulfatah used to pay salaries in percentages. If you collect 30% today it is 60% next month, those that collect 20% this month will get 15% next month.