A former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, weekend said the reason former president Muhammadu Buhari harassed and intimidated him was because he opposed his habitual uncurbed borrowings.
Saraki, however, maintained that while he was being harassed by the Buhari administration, the Nigerian elite as well as ordinary people stood aloof, a situation that has affected his successors’ performance in office.
Appraising the current political dynamics in Nigeria, he concluded that subsequent presidents of the senate have had to become subservient to the executive, learning from his ordeal.
Arguing that no senate president would like to be subjected to the kind of intimidation he and his team were subjected to by Buhari, Saraki agreed that persons who occupied the position after him had become a rubber stamp to the executive arm of government.
The former Kwara State governor spoke at the 2025 Reunion Gala Celebration of King’s College Old Boys Association (KCOBA) of North America, Houston, Texas, United States. His presentation was themed: “Empowering the Future from Legacy to Infinity.”
Other prominent Nigerians who attended the event during which Saraki was presented with the Rex E. O. Akpofure Award for Outstanding Achievement, were the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II; a renowned Nigerian-American Pediatric Surgeon, Dr. Oluyinka Olutoye; President of Toronto Raptors, Mr. Masai Ujuri and a Nigerian-American Physician, Dr Sam Dagogo-Jack.
Saraki laid Nigeria’s political challenges on the feet of leaders who were never prepared for the arduous task of governance, at the same time taking a swipe at professionals who insisted that politics was dirty and therefore not for persons with integrity.
Saraki’s tenure as senate president from 2015 to 2019 was marked by a frosty relationship with Buhari, including political rivalry, legal confrontations, and institutional clashes.
The discord began with Saraki’s controversial ascent to the senate presidency in June 2015. Defying the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership’s preference for Ahmad Lawan. Saraki secured the position with support from opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senators.
Tensions escalated as Saraki faced multiple legal challenges, including charges of false asset declarations related to his tenure as Kwara State governor.
Although many charges were dismissed, the timing and persistence of these cases led people to believe that Saraki was being politically persecuted by the executive branch.
The relationship further deteriorated when Saraki defected from the APC to the PDP in 2018, citing marginalisation and a lack of internal democracy within the ruling party.
The defection intensified efforts by APC loyalists to remove him from the Senate presidency, culminating in a failed impeachment attempt in August 2018.
Despite occasional attempts at reconciliation, the period was marked by legislative-executive standoffs, including delays in confirming presidential nominees and passing key legislations as well as the failure of Buhari to assent to many legislations by the Saraki-led senate.
Since Saraki left the position, the label has been particularly associated with his successor, Lawan as well as the current Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, who have been accused of failing to assert their independence, with bills and policies from the executive passed with minimal debate or opposition.
Saraki said: “The legislature under my leadership was silenced, harassed, assaulted, bullied, and blackmailed, and the executive deliberately frustrated the passage of good laws, initiatives, and recommendations that would have been highly beneficial to our society.
“We were like orphans. The elite and ordinary people kept quiet, were nonchalant, and stayed aloof. Now, years after we left office, subsequent leadership of the National Assembly would rather be a rubber stamp and play dumb because they do not want to go through the harrowing experience that Saraki went through.
“I could have agreed with everything the Presidency under Buhari wanted and cut deals with them all the way. I would have been a good ally. Thus, when I read posts on social media or stories in the traditional media criticising the current National Assembly and praising our tenure, I just shrug my shoulders and feel unconcerned.
“This is a big failure of followership, and it is an enabler for the continuous failure of leadership. These sad developments are indications that our institutions are weak. Instead of building institutions, we are building strong men and women.”
The former senate president pointed out that his experience in governance had shown that many people elected into key offices got there without any idea or plan of what policies, programmes, and projects they want to execute and what changes they want to effect.
According to him, these people run the government on whims and caprices, or at best rely on proposals from the ‘government scammers’ who patronise every government in power, advising everyone in the audience to show more interest in politics.
“We should decide that from today, we will no longer keep quiet while our country is being misgoverned. We must always intervene when we see a wrong candidate being fielded, a wrong policy being implemented, or a wrong project being sited.
“We must leave our comfort zone. With the level of education, experience, and exposure available to those of you present here, Nigeria needs your involvement in her governance.
“You can participate by either contesting elections or supporting the emergence of those you believe are capable and can make a difference. Your voice and resources can push good candidates into offices. All of you here must play key roles at the various levels…” he advised.
He maintained that everywhere, Nigerians continued to excel as individuals, but the country has failed as a collective, emphasising that the country has remained unable to fulfill its manifest destiny as a leader in Africa and the world.
Saraki questioned how the country could have a constellation of global stars, and yet was not a leader globally, pointing out that the issue of why Nigeria has not produced leaders who will take the country to the promised land or achieve genuine development is one that will not go away soon.
his words: “We have failed because our best hands and heads refuse to venture and offer themselves for leadership. Those who constitute the followership have also failed to play their good roles by being discerning in choosing leaders.
“They often fail to hold the leadership accountable. There is an argument as to whether every society is a reflection of its leaders or if the leaders are a reflection of the general society from which they emerge.
“Whichever side of this debate we take, what is certain is that no leader can achieve success by accident or bring about positive changes by accident.
“Development can only be achieved in any society by intentional actions and well-designed, carefully thought-out, and efficiently implemented policies, programmes, plans, and projects introduced by the leadership and supported by the followership.”
The medical doctor-turned politician listed his numerous achievements as governor of Kwara state, urging his contemporaries to be deliberate in improving the quality of leadership and be ready to hold those who emerge as leaders responsible for delivering on the promises of good governance.
“To do this, we should all come out of our shells. Let us stop the idea that politics is dirty, too rigorous, demanding, and invasive of our privacy,” he observed.
Earlier before his trip to the US, Saraki had said the ongoing membership registration of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) in Kwara State has shown the determination of the people to collectively yearn for change and for a future different from the governance that they were experiencing in the country.
Speaking on the membership registration of the PDP across the 16 local government councils areas of the state, he said, “What this reveals is a simple truth: real change does not happen overnight.
“It is the sum of small acts. It is the story of ordinary people making a choice to engage, to participate and to register their belief in a better Kwara.
“As the Peoples Democratic Party membership registration got underway, thousands of people of all ages and backgrounds showed up—braving the relentless rain to stand in line, waiting patiently to be part of something bigger than themselves.
“This registration process is an invitation to become part of a larger, people-centred narrative that is still being written.
“So, if you feel that pull, that call toward something greater, take action today by visiting your ward registration centre. Become part of the change.
“A better future for Kwara State is not just something that we should aspire to casually; we must all take action, today.”