Saraki’s Battle for Change
For former Kwara State Governor, Senator Bukola Saraki, his bid for the Senate Presidency is beyond a personal dream. It is an opportunity for the leadership of the party to exemplify the change mantra, writes Ojo M. Maduekwe
The opposition against Senator Bukola Saraki becoming the senate president tells a lot about his personality. A member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), a political party known at best for imposition and largely lacking in internal democracy, Saraki, independent in character, has forces to contend with if he will become president of the senate.
While a former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu does not want him for obvious reasons, the president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari is alleged to be subtly supporting Senator Ahmad Lawan. Unfortunately, both Senator George Akume (Tinubu’s preferred choice), a senator whose ambition hit the rock on arrival, and Lawan, do not enjoy the kind of popularity that Saraki does.
Any surprise that even before the names of either of Lawan or Akume were ferried into the news, Saraki has had the support of 64 ranking and new senators-elect who had met at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, late April to endorse him for the senate president position.
A source at the meeting had informed THISDAY that the 64 senators had decided on Saraki because they want a “Senate president who is a product of the members and not imposed by a godfather,” a description neither Lawan nor Akume could boast of, since both are alleged to be more inclined in pleasing the party than serving the masses who elected them.
In addition to this was the boost given by the governors elected on the platform of the APC, who recently reportedly zoned the office of the Senate President to the North Central, obviously in support of Saraki, who hails from the geo-political zone.
Popularity aside, when one considers the level of political participation and interest in how the country is managed, Saraki has far impressive antecedents than Lawan or any other contender for the position. Talk of contributing to issues on the floor of the senate and general performance, he towers above Lawan. Anyone remembers the nationwide protest against petroleum subsidy in 2012? It was Saraki who made that possible.
Were it not for Saraki, the outgoing Senate President, David Mark, would have made opposition at the senate non-existent and irrelevant, even though there was a minority leader in the person of Akume.
Known as a bridge builder, Saraki is said to have good rapport not only with his colleagues, more than Lawan or Akume, but also with youth and student groups across the length and breadth of Nigeria. The other contenders are at best people one could describe as establishment politicians.
One instance that could be used to argue that Saraki is a man different from several other lawmakers was a tweet exchange between him and social media entrepreneur and political commentator, Mr. Japheth Omojuwa.
During this exchange, Omojuwa had asked Saraki about his take on a bloated National Assembly budget and the need to reduce it. Saraki responded thus: “Totally agree with you. It will happen very soon.”
If Buhari was serious on cutting the country’s yearly budget, then Saraki is best suited to be his man in the senate. With a senate president willing to reduce how much was made available to the senators, a bill proposing a reduced spending for the executive will not be hard for Buhari to sell.
If the APC was serious with change, Saraki’s emergence would signal the end of an era when the legislature merely served as an appendage to the executive. Except the party bandied change for the purpose of changing the PDP’s 16 year ‘undemocratic’ rule and replacing it with theirs, the party should allow change in how the National Assembly leaders emerge.
It is also amazing that the party, which criticised the PDP for campaigning on the back of ethnicity and religion is the one now seeking to discredit Saraki for being a “Yoruba man”. Ethnicity was never considered when the party was first alleged to have zoned the position to the North Central.
To now start playing up the issue of ethnicity because of a grand design to edge him out and please a certain godfather who thinks only of himself and not the collective interest, then Buhari and APC may have taken off on a note of disappointment, a pointer to more obnoxious developments to look forward to. Besides, Saraki is a Northerner and not even the current underhand by the APC leadership can change that.
There is a reason many young Nigerians prefer Saraki. According to Omojuwa, it is because, “he has been involved with several issues these young people took to heart. The remediation of Bagega in Zamfara State happened because he put his influence to great use even as online citizens pushed the #SaveBagega hashtag as attention got called to the issue.
“He, it was who first raised the fuel subsidy scam issue on the floor of the Senate. This eventually became the reason for the #OccupyNigeria protest. The kerosene subsidy revelations and his work in the Senate Committee on Environment stand him out. More than all these, he is accessible and he has agreed on social media at least that he’d help work at reducing the budget of the National Assembly.”
If APC fails to reach a consensus on the zone to produce the president and speaker of the National Assembly, the likelihood of Saraki defeating Lawan to the senate president position is high and this will discredit those allegedly pushing for Lawan.
The lingering stalemate over the zoning formula and opposition from party leaders against Saraki is because the APC has yet to come to terms with its own change mantra and if care is not taken, the party, like the Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso has warned, would have itself to blame.
During the 2015 general election, the party promised Nigerians a deviation from practices that characterised the 16 year rule of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The APC came to the 2015 elections on the strength of its peaceful, transparent, free and fair primary election that threw up Buhari.
Considered successful and the best primary that any political party in Nigeria had organised till date, the primaries helped shape the minds of Nigerians on the idea of orderliness – an attribute of what to expect from the APC. But it appears that imposition is one practice the party has refused to shed, but, it remains one that could change with Saraki’s emergence as the Senate President.
While it is expected that the APC will resolve this impasse in no distant time, it is important for Buhari to steer clear of how the lawmakers handle their affair and not be ridiculed by an unexpected outcome because someone with ulterior motive has instigated the current stalemate.
Whether or not Saraki is ultimately elected the Senate President, what is important is that the lawmakers, either at the Senate or House of Representatives, must be allowed to decide their fate. That is when change – a genuine change – can be seen as truly gliding across the horizon.