- Since Early Last Year
What is Senator Bukola Saraki cooking? That has been the big question on the lips of many political watchers for some time now. This is because the former Senate President has been off the politicial scene since early last year.
He has been operating below the radar since Pres. Bola Tinubu assumed office. So since early last year nothing has been heard of Senator Bukola Saraki. In fact, many people wonder why he has been silent since he lost the PDP primary presidential ticket to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in 2022. Since then, the former Senate President, has gone underground.
Everybody knows that this 2-term past Governor of Kwara State is one of the major gladiators. His huge followers are an asset to any party he pitches his tent with and that’s why he’s respected among other politicians.
That he is still very strong politically became clear a few weeks back, when he buried his mother and the event attracted all the who-is-who in the corridors of power.
The ceremony was attended by top politicians, and governors from across the country. It was a Roll Call of all the PDP governors and dignitaries accross the major parties and geo-graphical zones in the country. Some of them include: Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, former presidential candidate, Peter Obi, Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State, Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State, Governor Duoye Diri of Bayelsa State, Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa Ondo State, Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State, and Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State.
Other notable figures include business magnates Aliko Dangote and Adedeji Adeleke, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Senator Bala A. Mohammed, Labour Party’s Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, and his wife, Ify Aniebo. Even before the burial, his father’s house on Cameron Road was a beehive of activities, as all the Big names in politics came there to commiserate with him and his junior sister, Gbemi Saraki, who is also a politician.
One of the dignitaries who paid them a visit at home was the First Lady of Nigeria Senator Oluremi Tinubu and other top APC members as well.
No doubt, Senator Bukola Saraki, is a big name and that’s why most of his moves lately have been generating rumours. He was quiet for a period of time and suddenly in the last few months, a lot have been said about him.
A few days ago, there was a poster of Bukola Saraki and former presidential candidate, Peter Obi surfacing in Abuja. The poster reads Bukola Saraki and Peter Obi for 2027. And this has been generating a lot of attention among their admirers and political supporters. Some are saying it’s a welcome development and others condemned it outrightly.
This purported 2027 presidential campaign poster featuring Peter Obi, the former Labour Party presidential candidate, and Bukola Saraki, a former Senate President, has been dismissed as a “figment of people’s imagination” by the Peter Obi Media Reach (POMR).
The spokesman for the group, Yunusa Tanko stated, “It’s just people’s imagination. There’s no hint of a presidential run, but we’re working for the good of the people.”
The disputed poster, which has been circulating online, shows Saraki as the presidential candidate and Obi as his running mate, with the slogan “Let’s restore our country back, come 2027.”
It should be noted that both Saraki and Obi have yet to officially declare any intention to contest the 2027 presidential election.
Saraki is a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), while Obi is still a member of the Labour Party (LP), having defected from the PDP during the build-up to the 2023 presidential election.
Interestingly, the former Senate President is yet to debunk the story.
On the other hand, some political analysts who think his silence has a political undertone, also believe he might also want to align with Rabiu Kwakwanso for the 2027 presidential election because their posters also trended online a few weeks back.
Don’t forget that he has a strong bond with Kwankwaso and their friendship is over a decade old.
One of the insiders who spoke to City People said, he’s been eyeing that seat for many years.
According to him, Bukola would contest again for President in 2027. But I can’t tell you if he will use PDP platform. That is why he has been silent. He wants to run and he’s desperate to get back on track. He is ready to align with any strong candidate to get this done. And that’s why it has been rumoured that he wants to run with several presidential candidates in the last few months.
He’s been senate president. He is a two term governor of his state. He thinks the next step is the presidency”, he said.
Just a few weeks ago when the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu visited him at home to pay him a courtesy visit on his mother demise, there were also rumours he would likely be wooed back to APC. There were those who also said Saraki has a lot of APC friends and perhaps thats why, in about a year, he hasn’t come out to rebuke the government policies as an opposition.
A few days ago City People spoke to one of his media aides, who told us that Saraki hasn’t decided yet whether he wants to run for any political office or not. “Presently, he still keeps his cards close to his chest. You know he just lost his mother and a lot of people went to pay homage at his home. But 2027 is still far”
He said further that there would definitely be alignment and realignment but we can’t say how it would play out he concluded.
In 2011, Saraki declared his candidacy for the Peoples Democratic Party for the presidential primaries, but later stepped down in support of the Northern consensus candidate, Atiku Abubakar. Saraki, is currently a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and was previously a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He defected from the All Progressives Congress on 31 July 2018, some days after 14 Senators defected to the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP). He blamed his defection on intolerance of the influential persons within his former party. Saraki declared his presidential campaign for the PDP presidential ticket in the 2019 election, but lost the primaries to Atiku Abubakar.
He was subsequently announced as the Director General of Atiku Abubakar’s presidential campaign for the 2019 presidential election, which he lost to former President Muhammadu Buhari. As a result of a 2018 anti-Saraki dynasty sentiment called the Ó Tó Ge Movement, Saraki lost his senatorial seat to APC’s Dr. Ibrahim Oloriegbe. He polled a total of 68,994 votes against Oloriegbe’s 123,808 votes in the 4 Local Government Areas of Kwara Central Senatorial District, a huge margin of more than 54,000 votes. In January 2022, Saraki declared he was running for the office of the president under the umbrella of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2023 General election. He was defeated by Atiku Abubakar who pulled the highest votes with 371 votes, followed by Nyesom Wike with 237 votes and Saraki with 70 votes at the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential primary election which was held at the MKO Abiola National stadium, Abuja on 28 and 29 May 2022.
–Isaac Abimbade
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