RACE TO 2023 PRESIDENCY: OLUBUKOLA ABUBAKAR SARAKI

Former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has shunned calls for the zoning of the PDP’s Presidential ticket to the South. He announced his interest to contest the 2023 presidency on January 26th, 2022.

His declaration has drawn mixed reactions from his supporters; some of whom have described him as a detribalized Nigerian, and some party members who would prefer he withdrew on the basis of geopolitical zoning.

In continuation of our “10 Must Knows” series, let us share some highlights on the person of Olubukola Abubakar Saraki.

1. Saraki was born in London, United Kingdom, on 19th December, 1962.

2. He obtained a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (M.B.B.S.) from London Hospital Medical College of University of London in 1987.

3. Prior to entering politics, Saraki worked as a medical officer at Rush Green Hospital in London. He returned to Nigeria in 1990, working for Societe Generale Bank Ltd., and advancing to the role of executive director.

4. By 2000, President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed Saraki as Special Assistant to the President on Budget, and while in that position, he introduced the Fiscal Responsibility Bill. Subsequently, he served on the Economic Policy Co-ordination committee.

5. In 2003, he defeated the incumbent to become governor of Kwara State, and was reelected in 2007.

6. He succeeded his sister as senator representing Kwara Central Senatorial District in 2011, emerging as senate president after another victory at the 2015 general elections. During his tenure, the Senate passed 293 bills and cleared 138 public petitions, outnumbering all previous Senates in Nigeria's history.

7. He has had several brushes with law enforcement agencies but has mostly come out unscathed. A seemingly unresolved case is one allegedly reported by the EFCC on March 10, 2017, where his aides were accused of laundering about N3.5 billion of Paris Club refund.

8. In 2018, he was bestowed a chieftaincy title last held by his father - ‘Waziri’ of Ilorin by the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Sulu-Gambari. He also holds the title of the Turaki of the Fulani Emirate of Ilorin.

9. Saraki is a football fan and has an eponymous club named Abubakar Bukola Saraki Football Club (ABS FC).

10. He is happily married to Toyin Saraki, and blessed with four children.

QOUTE:

“Celebrating our Democracy Day is a reminder that a government for, of, and by the people, is, and must be Nigeria’s only recourse.”

- Bukola Saraki

A very good development. I will vote you ahead of any other candidate. I need an intelligent man to be my president. A tactical and a magnificient politician.

This is a man that his papa handed over a bank (Societe Generale). He destroyed the bank. He was given Kwara on a platter of gold, he lost it out of sheer arrogance.