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Tag: Bukola Saraki

  • “Saraki’s Opposition to My Appointment as Minister of Justice, Admits Adoke”

    “Saraki’s Opposition to My Appointment as Minister of Justice, Admits Adoke”

    By Daniel Edu

    Mohammed Adoke, a former Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), has revealed that former Kwara State Governor, Bukola Saraki, opposed his appointment as Minister of Justice during his tenure. Adoke served as the Minister of Justice and AGF under former President Goodluck Jonathan.

    In an interview with media personality Adesuwa Giwa Osagie, Adoke explained that Saraki, who was highly influential as the chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum at the time, was not in favor of his appointment. Saraki’s reservations stemmed from his discomfort with Adoke and concerns that Adoke might not align with his political interests.

    Adoke emphasized that despite this disagreement, he considers Saraki a close friend and recognizes him as one of the emerging leaders in Nigeria. Adoke praised Saraki’s leadership qualities, citing his previous roles as Senate President and Governor. He commended Saraki for standing out as a capable and competent leader, even in the face of political challenges. Adoke expressed hope that Nigeria would continue to benefit from statesmen like Saraki in the years to come.

    Additionally, Adoke stated that he views the corruption allegations against Saraki as politically motivated persecution.

  • Abba Kyari Offered me N10m and visa to implicate Saraki – Offa Robbery suspect

    Abba Kyari Offered me N10m and visa to implicate Saraki – Offa Robbery suspect

    One of the principal suspects in Offa robbery attack, Ayoade Akinninbosun has told a court that embattled former Head of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) squad, Abba Kyari allegedly offered him N10 million to implicate ex-Senate President Bukola Saraki in the armed robbery case.

    At the resumed trial on Wednesday, January 18, at the Kwara State High Court in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, Akinninbosun further alleged that Kyari promised to give him a visa to any country of his choice if he took the option to implicate Saraki but he turned down the offer.

    During cross-examination by the Defence Counsel, Mathias Emeribe (SAN), Akinninbosun said;

    “He said I should admit and say Saraki was the one who asked us to go and rob. I told him I won’t do that. That I will rather die for what I didn’t do than to lie against an innocent man.

    “He asked me to think over his offer very well. At this point he ordered officers Hassan and Moshood to return me to the cell. A separate one different from where others are and they should stop torturing me.”

    Akinninbosun said he was not allowed to write any statement in Ilorin except his bio-data, until they were conveyed to Abuja in a tinted bus, where he was later kept in a place called “abattoir”.

    The suspect maintained that Saraki had nothing to do with the robbery case. He added;

    “We were like 15 to 20 taken to Abuja, I only know a few of them. We were put outside and served meals, but I couldn’t eat because my hands were paralyzed due to the torture I went through in their hands in Ilorin. They asked Kunle Ogunleye to feed me.

    “They separated five of us, put us in the generator house and Officer Hassan Attila ordered they brought some men. They went to bring five Fulani men. They brought them and killed them all in my presence.

    “I was told that was not a film. He asked me to stretch my legs and shot my right leg. He shot the second leg but when I tried shifting the leg, it hit my tomb.”

    Akinninbosun went on to show the gunshot wound on his legs to the court. According to him, one of the robbery suspects, Micheal Adikwu, was shot dead in his presence, a situation that got him terrified and made him agree to implicate Saraki in a prepared statement before the press.

    The case has been adjourned till February 13, 2023.

  • Gbajabiamila greets Saraki at 60

    Gbajabiamila greets Saraki at 60

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila has rejoiced with a former President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki, on his 60th birthday.

    Gbajabiamila, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Lanre Lasisi, said Saraki has paid his dues as a distinguished Nigerian who served his people over the years.

    The Speaker noted that Saraki has contributed his best when he served as the President of the 8th Senate.

    Gbajabiamila wished the former governor of Kwara State more productive years and good health.

  • 2023 Presidency: I’ll Create Job Opportunities, Prioritise Solid Minerals – Sen. Saraki Vows

    2023 Presidency: I’ll Create Job Opportunities, Prioritise Solid Minerals – Sen. Saraki Vows

    From Noah Ocheni, Lokoja

    Towards the forthcoming PDP delegate elections, a presidential aspirant, Senator Bukola Saraki on Sunday in Lokoja declared his commitment to free up the solid minerals subsector to create massive jobs for the youths in Nigeria.

    Senator Bukola Saraki who made the disclosure on Sunday when he met with the kogi state delegates in Lokoja said provision of job opportunity would help to tackle insecurity in the country.

    He assured the people that his presidency will galvanise the solid minerals deposits endowed in the North Central Zone to be the main driver of the economy.

    He asked delegates from Kogi state to cast their votes for him as a solidarity for one of their own in the presidential race for the first time since the return of democracy in 1999.

    Saraki, a two term Governor of Kwara state, two term senator and Senate president maintained that he possessed the needed capacity and experience to wriggle the country out of its predicament.

    He added that as former chairman, Governors forum, and president of the Senate in his second lap of his tenure, he has been tested and trusted to manage the affairs of the country, stressing that he left the office better than he met it.

    The presidential frontliner assured the people of kogi that his entrance into the race is to solidify the existing mutual relationship that existed between kogi and kwara , adding that his preoccupation, if elected, is to work assiduously to strengthen interests and development of the North Central Zone.

    He urged delegates whom he ascribed to be one of them, to vote enmass for him , so that they could be part of the history making as he would be the first from north Central zone to be democratically elected president of Nigeria.

    He said, having spent some years in high echelon of governance with distinction, he is aware of the challenges facing the country, which made him more prepared among his competitors to preside over the affairs of the nation at this critical time of our nationhood.

    According to him” There is a bond between kogi and Kwara. I’m a bridge between the North and the South, between Christians and Muslims. What our Country needs now is Unity and i have done excellently well on this in my previous national assignments” .

    He decried the action of the present regime to obtain loans for consumption, hinting that , he vehemently opposed the establishment while he held sway in the Senate.

    In their seperate remarks, former Governors, Ibrahim Idris, and Idris Wada, urged the delegates to cast their votes for Senator Saraki whom they acknowledge has the wherewithal to change ugly narratives of the nation.

  • Lack Of Accountability Responsible For Nigeria’s Security Challenges – Saraki

    Lack Of Accountability Responsible For Nigeria’s Security Challenges – Saraki

    Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential aspirant Bukola Saraki has condemned the Federal Government’s handling of the security situation in the country.

    He believes that the inability to hold anyone accountable is responsible for the country’s continuous security challenges.

    The former Senate President said this on Tuesday at the PDP Secretariat in Jos, Plateau State, while addressing the party’s delegates ahead of the forthcoming presidential congress for which he is seeking the support of the delegates.

    Senator Saraki reminded the delegates of the middle-belt role in the stability of the country, especially in the emergence of presidential candidates and reasons that it is the turn of the north-central to produce the next democratically elected president.

    “Nigeria today, we do not have the luxury of sending anybody to the Villa. Unfortunately, the people of Plateau are bearing the brunt of it. They’ve lost close relatives, close friends, properties, and that cannot continue,” he said.

    “Who is going to help us solve that problem, who better than one of us,” he asked, adding: “the problem of insecurity in Nigeria is because there has been no accountability.

    “People have done this, and nobody is held accountable.”

    This comes days after the Northern Elders Forum picked him and the Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed as consensus candidates for the region.

  • PDP: Northern elders’ decision on consensus Presidential aspirants cannot be faulted – Saraki

    PDP: Northern elders’ decision on consensus Presidential aspirants cannot be faulted – Saraki

    The immediate past President of the Senate, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has described the northern elders’ decision to pick him and Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) consensus Presidential aspirants in the north as a welcome development.

    The Northern Elders Forum led by Ango Abdullahi, on Friday, endorsed Saraki and Mohammed as the consensus aspirants ahead of the 2023 presidential primaries of the party based on certain criteria.

    Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State and another aspirant Mohammed Hayatu-Deen have since rejected the decision claiming it was not based on the principle of equity and transparency.

    However, the former Kwara State Governor in a short message on Sunday by his media adviser, Yusuph Olaniyonu, said the process of arriving at the Northern PDP consensus aspirants was pain-staking, thorough and transparent.

    Saraki also made it known that the duo have initiated a process to ensure that one of them emerges as the North Presidential aspirant.

    The short message reads “It is a welcome development. The process that eventually led to this decision cannot be faulted. It was painstaking, thorough and transparent.

    “Their decision was based on equity, justice, and the need for inclusion of all. Yes, one consensus candidate has not emerged but they have initiated a process which can help the party later on.

    “The process is a work-in-progress. One person will still emerge from the ongoing process here in the North.

    “The South also has an example to emulate in deciding on the aspirants that should proceed to the primaries considering the zones that have not produced a President before like the South East.

    “A nation like Nigeria with all the current problems needs consensus building as a way of healing the nation and enlarging grounds of co-operation, unity and understanding.”

  • 2023: Put Nigeria Above Other Interests, IBB Tells Presidential Aspirants

    2023: Put Nigeria Above Other Interests, IBB Tells Presidential Aspirants

    Former Military President General Ibrahim Babangida has told those aspiring for the presidency to put Nigeria above other interests in everything they do.

    Babangida gave the counsel when he received the former Senate President Bukola Saraki; Bauchi, and Sokoto State governors, Bala Mohammed and Aminu Tambwal respectively when they paid him a courtesy visit at his Hilltop residence in Minna, Niger State on Thursday.

    “Your belief in having a better Nigeria featured very prominently. You made my day. What you talked about is Nigeria, Nigeria, Nigeria. I want you to keep it up, for the benefit of this country and generations yet unborn,” Babangida said in reaction to the comments from Mr Saraki who led the three-man delegation.

    “I want you to keep it up, for the benefit of this country and generations yet unborn. What you are doing is good, this is how the country should develop.”

    He promised to support the group “so long as you stay on the course of promoting Nigeria all the time, making it a secure country”.

    Earlier, the former two-time governor of Kwara State had said they were in Minna “as part of our consultations; going round the country talking to our elders and stakeholders”.

    Saraki, who spoke to newsmen after the visit to General Babangida, said the team felt the former military president should be briefed about the efforts they are making to get a consensus presidential candidate that will face that of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in next year’s election.

    “We took him through what we are doing. This is part of what we call solution providing. We are trying to provide a solution to the political process because we want to ensure that it is smooth, it is not rancorous and it leads to a better Nigeria at the end of the day,” he said.

    He said it was out of their “desire to make a better Nigeria that those of us who are aspiring to be president came together that we must find a way of having a consensus so that we can reduce the number and ensure that we have a candidate who is competent who has the support of everybody”.

    According to him, they could not achieve the objective without the wise counsel of General Babangida and other leaders.

    Saraki said Nigerians have been going through hell, especially in the last few days. He condoled those who lost their loved ones and those whose relations are injured or missing due to the train bombing incidents in Kaduna recently.

  • 2023: Tambuwal, Bala, Saraki, Opts For Consensus

    2023: Tambuwal, Bala, Saraki, Opts For Consensus

    By Muhammad Ibrahim, Sokoto

    … To Share Thoughts With Atiku Soon

    Gov. Bala Muhammad of Bauchi state on Sunday hosted his Sokoto state counterpart, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and the former Senate President, Bukola Saraki to a consensus building initiative among aspirants of Northern extraction for the position of President under the aegis of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

    This was contained in a release signed and issued to newsmen by the Special Adviser on media and Publicity to the governor Muhammad Bello.

    The trio, all seeking the nomination of the PDP to run for the seat of Nigeria’s President, met for about two and half an hours in Government House, Bauchi.

    At the close of the meeting they posited that it is their considered resolution that against the backdrop of the failure of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to provide good governance, all those seeking to be President under the PDP should unite and rally round one candidate.

    The triumvirate from the three geopolitical zones in the Northern part of the country- North-Central, North-East and North-West also agreed that at a later date they will visit former President Atiku Abubakar, himself another presidential aspirant from the North, to brief him on the outcome of their brainstorm.

    Saraki who briefed journalists after the meeting said: “we appreciate that all of us have shown ambition but only one person could lead.”

    “For this reason, we decided that we should all embrace consensus going forward in order to make things easier for our party’s stability,” Saraki stated.

    He pointed out that their convergence, taking cognizance of the sorry state of the country and its people, which the APC is not ready to alleviate, are convinced that the PDP must lead the way in the March to rescue the country in 2023.

    He asserted that although all of them seeking the numero uno position are all qualified to contest, “we are ready to sacrifice our ambitions.”

    “We have agreed to put our heads together and see how best to provide leadership and direction for this country, its unity, stability and progress.

    “These are more important than our individual ambitions, thus the need for us to work together,” he emphasized.

    “Today is momentous. The PDP is ready because what is important is Nigeria. Whatever we do, Nigeria should come first,” the former Senate President further added.

    While Governor Tambuwal was accompanied by the former Deputy Governor of Zamfara state, Barrister Mahdi Aliyu Gusau and a Chieftain of the PDP in Sokoto state, Engr Bello Suleiman, Saraki came along with the former national Chairman of the PDP,
    Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje and others.

    The Deputy Governor of Bauchi state, Engr Baba Tela was also present at the press briefing.

  • 2023: I Have What It Takes To Lead Nigeria – Saraki

    2023: I Have What It Takes To Lead Nigeria – Saraki

    Former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has said he is capable of leading Nigeria.

    He said this during an interview on Channels TV’s Sunday Politics while responding to questions regarding his interest in the 2023 Presidential election.

    “I believe I have what it takes to lead Nigeria,” Saraki said.

    “I am not someone who shies away from taking up challenges. I am not someone who does not know the issues or someone who does not have the energy and vibrancy to address those issues.

    “More importantly, I am someone that can reach out across the political divide, based on my antecedents. I am someone who can reach out across the ethnicity divide and across the religious divide”.

    According to Saraki, those are essential qualities needed to unite the country as it is today.

    While the former Senate President has yet to officially declare his intentions to run for President, he, however, said he is currently consulting and in due course, he will make an appropriate announcement.

    When asked if there’s a strong possibility for him to run for the number one office, he said: ‘Yes, there is a strong possibility.

    Also addressing the highly-debated issue of zoning, the former Kwara Governor said although it is a great idea, a more important point of focus should be finding the best person for the job.

    “When you talk about zoning, yes, you must consider zoning but when we talk about zoning it can’t just be an issue of north/south because you cannot tell me that the southwest will say they are disenfranchised in the possibility of political office; neither can you say the south-south. But the reality is that the northeast north-central and southeast have not had Presidency or Vice Presidency. But what I’m saying is today, where the country is, with the challenges before the country, we must bring in other issues.

    “We did it when we wanted to look for the National Chairman of our party. we went seeking for who we felt was the best that would help the party.

    “There are people who can provide solutions to the problems of the country if you give them the opportunity,” Saraki added when asked for his closing words to the majority of Nigerians who believe that the All Progressives Congress and the People’s Democratic Party are both one and the same and may not be able to provide the change they seek.

    “I think it will be unfair to use one paintbrush for everybody,’ he said. “But I can speak for myself that everywhere I have been, I have always left it better than I found it and there are many people also like me”.

  • 2023: Babangida Supports Saraki’s Presidential Ambition, Give Reasons

    2023: Babangida Supports Saraki’s Presidential Ambition, Give Reasons

    Former military Head of State, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, IBB, has thrown his weight behind the 2023 presidential ambition of former Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

    Babangida explained that he supports Saraki’s presidential ambition because he is the “best for Nigeria” in 2023.

    He spoke while receiving a delegation of the Abubakar Bukola Saraki, ABS, National Campaign Advocacy Council, led by its Chairman, Prof Hagher Iorwuese and the Director-General, Chief Osaro Onaiwu, at his Minna Hilltop residence.

    The delegation was in Minna, Niger State to seek Babangida’s support for Saraki’s presidential ambition.

    Describing Saraki as “Self Propelled artillery gun,” the former military Head of State said he has what it takes to lead Nigeria.

    According to IBB: “I’m glad to have found people who have defined who a true Nigerian leader should be. This definition was lacking. Am happy you have identified someone who can do the job. The narrative has to change. I know your client very well. I am part of him. His father was very close to me.

    “You have zeroed on a good candidate. I call him SP. In the artillery, we have a Self Propelled gun called SP with strategic responsibility and functions. That is who he is.”

    Babangida also recalled how Saraki saved Nigeria during the 8th Senate, stressing that he showed patriotism.

    He added: “It was Saraki’s efforts that saved the nation from the imminent crisis that ensued. Remember if he was not able to nip the crisis, only God knows what would have happened. It was his intelligence at play that saved the nation. He is the best for Nigeria.

    “But a lot of work must be done to convince colleagues and Nigerians on this. You have identified the right person for the leadership of this country. We need a leader that can utilize our rich diversities to our advantage.

    “We have abused our diversity and are not able to use it well to our advantage. I believe that the young Saraki has the capacity to bring back this glory to our nation. He has my prayers, he has my absolute support.”