By Eric Elezuo

It did not come as a surprise when during the week the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki mulled the possibility of contesting the seat of Aso Rock, Abuja in 2019 during an interview with Bloomberg in his Abuja residence, at least not to The Boss.

Recall that on March 31, 2018, The Boss had published an exclusive on the Senate President with the headline: World Exclusive: Senate President, Bukola Saraki Joins Presidential Race. As at the time, the body language displayed could only be decoded by not too many persons. However, today the cat has been let out of the bag, publicly.

Speaking boldly, like one who knows what he is doing, Saraki revealed that it is most likely that he would be contesting the 2019 presidential election because he believes, based on the experience at his beck and call, that he can make the change that has so far eluded Nigerians.

The strongman of Kwara politics, who is better known as Oloye, has had it rough with his former party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) ever since in 2015 when he decided to run for the Senate presidency against the dictates of the party. He has therefore, been moving from one tribunal to another on various charges ranging from false declaration of assets to anything the government could come up with. His uhuru came only recently when the apex court, the Supreme Court declared that he has no case to answer. To him, the dice was cast; it was time to face something serious; it was time to go. The fact that President Muhammadu Buhari has declared his interest to run for a second term in office did not help matters.

Consequently, on August 1, 2018, he announced his defection from the APC back to the PDP, sparking a controversy that is yet to die down. He followed it up with a recess of the National Assembly till September.

Saraki, as influential as he is controversial, has quietly and steadfastly taken the Nigerian political space by storm, getting whatever he had ever wanted politically with almost a wave of the hand. His political sagacity and maneuverings has remained legendary, making him a toast when it comes to political scheming and strategy. It will not be a surprise therefore, if he like on many occasions, clinch the ticket on behalf of the PDP in October when the primaries are held.

The two terms former governor of Kwara State also expressed concerns about the invasion of the National Assembly by operatives of the Department of State Services, and stated that the country needs a president who will really be in charge.

“If a government can go and lock up an arm of government -and it’s never happened in our history – we should all be very concerned,” Saraki said. He also expressed fears that the way things are going, he would not be surprised if the government used security agencies for elections.

Another reason the tactician stated is promoting his desire to make an attempt at the presidency is the fact that investors and Nigerians as a whole have lost confidence in President Buhari and the administration, adding that Nigeria needs to be governed by a genuinely pro-business administration that would be able to tackle recurrent security issues. He dismissed Buhari as not having the political will to see himself as the ‘chief marketing officer’ of the Nigeria economic space

“Most of the inflows that have come in are merely hot money, and that is because the oil price has gone up. Investment in the real sector is not seen. The private sector, in my view, has probably taken a position that the confidence is not there in the government. The country requires a government that is truly pro-business and a President that sees himself as a chief marketing officer,” Saraki said.

He further condemned the incessant involvement of security agencies in electoral matters, thereby undermining due process and creating partiality. He believes that credible elections can only be possible with safe elections.

“There has been a persistent disregard for due process and a lack of neutrality for some of these issues. For you to have credible elections, you must have safe elections. Security agencies are actively getting involved in the politics.”

The Senate President sees the dearth of sound democracy in the present Nigerian dispensation, and thinks he ‘can make a change’ by making it the fundamental of his administration. Just as he believes that the government should be saddled with responsibility of making budgetary provision for fuel subsidy. He said:

“The fundamentals of whatever we are going to develop are going to be based on sound democracy, credible elections, freedom of choice of Nigerians. If we don’t have that as a foundation, then everything else cannot happen.”

He stated further: “If we are going to have a subsidy, we should have a budget for it. Because once we have a budget for it, the private sector can also play a role in the importation of petroleum products. And if the private sector plays a role, definitely the cost of the subsidy will go down and there will be more efficiency in the delivery of products.

“But in the environment we are in today, where it’s only the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation that’s doing that, it’s going to be inefficient; it’s not going to be transparent.”

Berating the APC for not learning anything from their victory, he stated that the PDP has learnt their lessons from their defeat.

Saraki’s confidence is a consequence of consultations and discussions he had had with the party which have promised good tidings.

“We talked about how to sustain and improve the fight against corruption.  The issue of providing more powers to the states; inclusion and having a more nationalistic approach to things we do; to continue to improve the environment that will ensure investments. We listed a number of items during the discussions with the PDP, and there is a written agreement to that. We trust that we can hold them to that.”

He sees the PDP as more suited to make the change that has so far eluded the APC, and ‘lead the country in the right path’

At 56, young and very experienced, Saraki can boast of structures all over the country that can give him a solid ground to canvass for votes from Nigerians. Among his strongest selling point is the disillusionment that has so encompassed the Nigerian people that they clamour for urgent attention.

In a bid to provide good and impartial leadership, Saraki has on many occasions come head to head with his party, and that has explained their continued loggerhead till the day he finally called it quits.

Dr.  Saraki is reputed as a leader who do not have any qualms when it comes to working with and giving youths opportunity to prove their mettle. He has that uncanny ability to spot and deploy good talents. This is evident in his ability, during his tenure as governor, to give youths in their 30s and early 40s such as Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, Zakari Mohammed and Razak Atunwa among others the opportunity to flourish and showcase their potentials.

As a result of his sterling achievements, his colleagues did not think twice in electing him Chairman of Nigerian Governors Forum.

His achievements as governor and senate president speak for themselves, and are very glaring.

The major highlight of his administration as governor could be traced to Kwara becoming the first state to complete the Nigeria Independent Power Project, as well as re-energised the Ganmo Power Station, Ilorin in collaboration with PHCN, connecting over 3750 rural communities to the national grid through the development and installation of 725 transformers and 7 substations.

Kwara also completed four electrification projects which meant power became stable 18–22 hours a day. 70% of people living in Kwara had access to electricity, compared to a national average in Nigeria of 30% at the time.

As Senate President, he has passed more bills within his first three years in office than any leader of the senate ever come close to doing for a whole tenure.

These are few of the many advantages he will replicate when and if he eventually decides to take a shot at the plum number one position. However, there is a hurdle called Atiku Abubakar in his way.