INTRODUCING SARAKI's DYNASTY, ORIGIN AND HISTORY.
INTRODUCING SARAKI's DYNASTY, ORIGIN AND HISTORY.
INTERVIEW GRANTED BY DR OLUSOLA SARAKI IN 2009 BY BUKOLA SARAKI's FATHER.
Saraki: I Am Fulani From Mali by AloyEmeka6: 12:35am On Aug 18, 2009
Pa Dr. Olusola Saraki: Warts & all • Yes! I’m Fulani from Mali • Why I never served military govt
By FEMI ADEOTI
Monday, August 17, 2009
Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki, elderstatesman and chairman, Northern Union (NU), has spoken as never before. He practically opened up for close to two-and-a-half hours when he met with a group of selected journalists at his Abuja home recently.
Saraki
http://odili.net/news/source/2009/aug/17/514.html
He answered every question as much as he could, and clarified some “knotty” issues. He talked about his “real” origin, past military governments, why ex-civilian governors of Kwara State always rebuffed him after installation, NU, collapse of ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo’s third term agenda, etc.
Excerpts:
Who is Saraki?
As you know, I am Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki. By profession, I am a medical practitioner but by accident, I found myself in politics and I don’t regret it in the sense that I am satisfied that I am doing what I like. I am happy with it even though the road has been very rugged and rough. But if you are honest and sincere, and this is what has happened to me, you will feel fulfilled. I have been very honest in politics and in life. I have been very sincere and very considerate and so I feel fulfilled and very satisfied.
I found myself in politics by accident because I am essentially a medical practitioner and I trained in one of the best medical schools. I was at the Saint George Medical College, University of London. When I was a student in London, I was a very active member of Nigerian Students Union. That was before Nigeria’s independence during the colonial days. I used to attend Nigerian Students’ meetings and I used to write a lot of articles such as those “Letters to the Editors” in the West African News Magazine which was popular at that time.
When I qualified as a medical doctor in 1962, I came back to Nigeria. I would have gone to Kaduna to practise medicine but I never did because I was angered by the refusal of the then Northern Regional Government to grant me scholarship to study medicine. The refusal was on the grounds that my parents could afford to train me and, so I too refused to go and work for the Northern government. I worked in Lagos at the General Hospital instead.
Later on, I joined the Peak Hospital from where I resigned my appointment in order to contest election into the Federal House of Representatives in 1964 as an independent candidate. Of course, I lost the election. The reason was that the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) was a very strong party which would not accept me as the official candidate. The leader of the party and Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, announced that all the old members should be returned at the polls because the NPC believed that it was being threatened by the Action Group (AG). They believed that the devil they knew was better than the one they never met.
That decision was taken barely two weeks before the elections.
My people insisted that I must contest even if as an independent candidate because I was very popular with the people at that time. But we forgot the strength of the government and the party officials at that time. Two weeks before the elections, it was announced that nobody should vote for an independent candidate and that the Sardauna had a big mirror in his Kaduna office with which he could monitor anyone flouting the order. They voted for the official candidate and that was how I lost the election. But I was never daunted because I believed in what I was doing. I went back to my practice in Lagos and I was doing well in my medical practice until the return to party-politics in 1978/79.
[b]Real identity
My mother is from Iseyin in Oyo State, while my father is from Ilorin in Kwara State. My great-great grandfather originated from Mali and I am talking about some 150 to 200 years ago. And they are Fulani and that is where we got our Fulani connection from. My great grandfather settled in Ilorin preaching the religion of Islam. A section of Ilorin came from Gwandu and they were religious, but my people came there as practising Muslims from Mali with their own Quran. In fact, the Emir and I used to joke that we had our own Quran and that nobody gave us Quran. My great-grandfather brought our own Quran to Ilorin from Mali to Agbaji where we settled. The Agbaji quarters is about 200 to 300 years old. Over the years, religious piety and devotion have led the prohibition of drumming (in whatever circumstance) in the area.
But because of our connection with the Southern people, a lot of Yoruba are always in Ilorin and so we speak the same language.
If you look at the Ilorin people, the real Ilorin people like Saraki for example, the culture and their ways share affinity with those of the far Northern Nigeria. That accounts for the difference you observe between us and, particularly, people of the South-West, despite the existence, now, of Yoruba as a common language. I leave people to say whatever they like about me. Some people even say I am from Ogun State and some even say I am from Togo but I know where I am from. Even, not long ago, I had a letter inviting me to join in the formation of a Mali-Fulani Organization and that I should be its chairman.
[/b]
What about your ancestral lineage? People have accused you of bearing Alhaji Abubakar Saraki when you needed votes from the North, Chief Olusola Saraki when you needed votes from the South-West and in the South-East and South-South, you answered Dr. Sola Saraki. How do you reconcile these differences?
People are just reading political meanings to my actions. My Islamic name is Abubakar. When were growing up in Lagos in those days, unless you were a Christian or bore a native indigenous name, you couldn’t get a school. If I wanted to be admitted to a school, I had to drop Abubakar in favour of Sola as virtually all the schools belonged to Christian organizations. It is not correct that I was changing names to garner votes. Politicians invent those kinds of stories against their opponents. You, yourself, should know who you are.
What was your growing up like?
Oh yes. Commitment, for example, is not there now but it was in abundance in those days. Now, the greed for money has taken over the whole place and I won’t blame our members of the National Assembly alone for that. Look at what is happening at the House of Commons in England where members of Parliament are fighting for very lousy money as small as £3,000 allowances for housing and gardening and all sorts of things. In those days, when I was in the Senate, such things never occurred to us. We never got ourselves involved in anything except the idea to serve the public. But today, it is different. It is now what you can get and what you can grab as everything is now about money which was not so during our own time.
Let me give you an example. The salary as a Senator in those days was about N1,000 per month; and by the time you paid tax and all those things, it came to about N750. But with that, we were fairly satisfied. But today, when you get to the National Assembly, they talk about millions and billions. It is very unfortunate that people, who are supposed to look after the welfare of the country, are not doing the right things. In those days, there was commitment.
Look at the political parties of today, look at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for example which everybody seems to be joining, you will find that the governors have turned leaders of the party at state level. Just as the President, in the recent past was supposed to be the leader of the party at the national level. Happily, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has refused the offer and said that the party should elect its leaders. Anything contrary to that would certainly undermine good governance and party discipline which, in a democracy, should be supreme.
Indeed, they have not got the political experience to run the party. In our time, the party was supreme and whatever the party decreed was final. But now, everyone is a big man and a leader. That is the difference between politics of those days and what obtains today.
Let me give you another example. I was in the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). The party, during the 1979 elections had only 36 seats in the Senate out of 95 and so could not command the majority. In the House of Representatives, NPN had only 127 out of 450 members and so fell short of majority. Yet, because of party discipline, we were able to run the National Assembly without any quarrel whatsoever and all the bills and all the budgets scaled through without any problem. But today see what is happening in the National Assembly. Here, you see a member of the PDP getting up to insult or abuse the President. In those days, you can never see a member of Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) getting up on the floor to abuse Chief Obafemi Awolowo or an NPN member abusing Alhaji Shehu Shagari. It never happened. But today, there is no discipline. Everybody does as he likes and there is nobody to check them.
Maybe they could do so because of the way they were voted in?
I think you are right in that aspect because some of them are saying that they themselves fought for their elections and that the party never assisted them. In our own time, the party would come and campaign for you right from the wards and constituencies and even up to the state level. I remember that in 1979, Shehu Shagari spent about three or four days in Kwara campaigning for all of us who were running for elections. But today it is not like that as they now use aeroplanes to fly from Abuja to Enugu and from Lagos to Kano to go and campaign. I think you are right. The members, once nominated, are left alone to go and source for money. They are left alone to do the campaigning to win the elections and, of course, where the party is not doing its work and where the candidate is not getting the support of the party, how can the party expect such a member if he won an election to obey its orders? That is exactly what is happening and I think we have to look into that aspect of the whole thing.
You said you came into politics by accident. Was it because your medical practice was not booming then?
I had a thriving medical practice then and I still have even up till today. My income was about £500,000 per annum at that time. I had a very successful medical practice. I was looking after companies and private clients. I didn’t have any hospital where I admitted patients but 99 percent of my jobs then were on retainership. I was retained by companies to look after their staff and family members. If I was making as much as £500,000 per annum as at 1962 then, definitely, it was quite a lot of money.
But people said you made your money during the Nigerian Civil War, how true?
Civil war? That is not true. I had nothing to do with the Army at that time. As I said, I was on retainership with many virile companies like NEPA (ECN at that time), NPA, NICON and so on. NPA and ECN were the big ones and as an NPA staff, you could get treated along with your family members and my monthly bill then could come to about £70,000 or so. Some of them had up to 10 children and they all came to me and I attended to them. Like I said earlier, I found myself in politics by accident. I was trained as a medical practitioner and doctors were like gods in those days and not now that it is three for a penny.
Senator Gbemisola Saraki-Fowora, as governor in 20011.
Oh yes, I love my daughter very dearly and she did all the furnishings in this my Abuja home for me. She renovated the whole building for me and anybody doing such for you, you love her or him more and more and more.
Is that the reason why you now want to install her as governor in 2011 after the tenure of her brother, Bukola?
Who was saying those kind of things? I am praying to God and I intend to go for the Umrah to seek the guidance of God. When I wanted to put Lawal there, I went for Umrah for the same purpose since the previous three governors did not perform to my expectation. I went to Umrah and sought forgiveness and true guidance. I prayed to God that I wanted somebody who would take care of Kwara State for me. I went to Umrah and I called Mallams to join me and together, we prayed to God. Lawal was among us, praying and he was saying, as I later gathered God, “make me the one to give this Saraki man what he wanted for Kwara State”.
When it became obvious that he would get the ticket, I complained to my faithful that I didn’t want any person with military background to be the Governor of Kwara State. I set-up a seven-man screening committee. They screened all the aspirants. I was worried that Lawal had got the highest mark. But I said, perhaps God wanted to use this man for the development of Kwara State. I could have changed the result if I had wanted so to do, but I told them to release the result and Lawal became the governorship candidate. After only one year in office, he began to agitate for a second term, convincing himself that I was going to make my son, Bukola, the governor. But I told him that Bukola was never a politician and that he never for once interfered in the political situation of Kwara State. But Lawal never believed me.
As God answered your prayer by giving you Lawal, now if that same God answers your prayer after the Umrah over Gbemisola, would you install her as the next Kwara State Governor?
I have not yet decided on who I will pick as candidate. I heard people saying that I would be giving the ticket to Gbemisola after Bukola but those are rumours, because I have not yet decided. If you ask me this question after Christmas this year, then I would be definite in letting you know my next candidate for the governorship of Kwara State. But as of today, I do not know who will be the next governor and I leave that to God. I want to go to Umrah and pray to God after fasting to help me because Kwara State has now gone very far. So, we want somebody who would continue and do even more than what Bukola has done. If you go to Kwara State today, you will know what I am talking about.
Maybe he deserves an extra term in office?
Bukola is serving a second term now and the law does not allow a third term, otherwise, I would have sought for him to go ahead.
Why are you always the arrowhead in championing the cause of Northern politics?
Today, I think I have a mission in the Northern Union (NU). But one of our members, just hours ago, stood up and said sir, I think we should change this Northern Union to Nigerian Union. In fact, the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akinolu, told us, when last we went to visit him, that it would have been better for Nigeria if the name of the organization could be changed from Northern Union to Nigerian Union.
But let me tell you the reason behind the formation of Northern Union. Like I told you, I was the Chairman of the Constitutional Conference during the 1994 to 1995 era of Abacha. At that conference, all our deliberations and decisions were through consensus. But when we came to the issue of the election of the President, one boy from Osun State almost destroyed the conference because he insisted that, after Abacha, the next President must come from the South-West. We had to adjourn the debate till the following day. Then Abacha phoned me and said Waziri, (that was the name he used to call me because he was very close to the Emir of Ilorin and it was the Emir who told him that he was going to make me the Waziri of Ilorin), can I see you? I said C-I-C (that was what I used to call him), “I would see you immediately”. I went to see him and he said he had intelligence reports that there was going to be trouble at the Constitutional Conference the following day. I told him that I heard the rumour too but that I was not sure. He said he heard that some people in the South-West wanted to be president after his dispensation and that the following day, they would start the agitation against the North and I laughed. He now asked to know why I was laughing and I said: “C-I-C, you don’t know how the parliament works”. I promised him that we would meet the agitators force for force.
When I left him, I went to Justice Karibi-Whyte (all of this could be verified from him) and reported what Abacha told me. He wanted to know what I told Abacha. I said that I merely reassured him. I then confided in him, and urged Karibi-Whyte that on the following day, at plenary, we would allow everybody to air his or her views, while we listened without interruption. The South-West delegates again started their agitation as if they were going to burn the whole place down. For many hours, they were busy abusing everybody and did not allow any other person to contribute. But when they were tired, really tired, they said I should put the question to vote.
I reminded them that I was the chairman of the conference. I also reminded them that since the beginning of the conference, all our deliberations had been by consensus and that there was never any time we voted on any issue. I assured them that the contentious issue too would not be voted on as voting on it would divide the country. I then suggested that we set up a committee of about 50 members to go and deliberate on it and report to the conference.
You won’t believe it that the same people who had been shouting and clamouring for voting on the issue started hailing me as the good leader. The same people who had been abusing everybody.
We agreed on that and set up a committee of 50. Of course, I was chairman of that committee which comprised of traditional rulers like the Emir of Ningi, Dr. Alex Ekweme, Ojukwu among many others. It was the Emir of Ningi who was sitting by my right hand, who brought the suggestion that the North should produce the next President for eight years, followed by the South for another eight years, and so on. We all agreed. We all clapped and agreed.
The following morning, after prayers and announcements, the 50-member committee announced the details of their agreement which they had earlier communicated to me. We all agreed and it was duly recorded in the minutes of the conference. Peter Odili (ex-governor of Rivers State) was at the conference and a member of the 50-member committee alongside the former governor of Akwa-Ibom State, Obong Victor Attah. For Odili to want to succeed Obasanjo after the reversal of the decision of the conference in favour of the latter (i.e. the South) was unacceptable. I couldn’t accept that because it would be against my conscience.
My involvement in the forming and leading the NU was, therefore, to let people know how we arrived at that point in our political journey. At the end of eight years now, nobody in the North would get up to say that he wants to be President because nobody would listen to him. So, the next President after the eight-year tenure of the Northerner must come from the South. It could be from the South-West, South-East or South-South because that has been settled. Nobody from the North could come out to contest because a candidate must come from the South. This idea of rotation may not be the best arrangement in a true democracy, we just have to patch up our country.
But where is the North?
Where is the North?
Yes?
The 19-Northern states. It starts from Kwara State up North.
You know why I am asking this question?
No
You remember the other time the former president Olusegun Obasanjo was appointing people from the Middle-Belt where Kwara State incidentally belongs to sensitive national positions. The core North cried out that you were never part of them. With that stance, do you think that they would allow any of you who are not core Northerners to be President using slot of the North?
You see, you find out that people saying that are really not from the North. How can anyone say that? Of course, they regretted saying such and we really lampooned those who said that. The 19 states of the North start from Kwara up to Sokoto and Kano State.
Let’s take you back to when you had the ambition of becoming the president after IBB’s tenure. There was the rumour that he really tricked you by promising to make you the president just as he allegedly did to others. Could you clarify this issue once and for all?
Well, when we were preparing for that, I was advised by the then Chief of Army Staff, General Ibrahim Salihu, to see IBB (Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida). He arranged a meeting to give me the opportunity to find out his boss’ thinking. It was the first time.
Culled from google by Chantel Adanna Chinyere.
Abubakar Bukola Saraki :
Early life and education :
Abubakar Bukola Saraki was born on 19 December 1962 to the family of Olusola Saraki, a senator (1979–1983) and a one time Senate Leader of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and his mother Florence Morenike Saraki. He attended King's College, Lagos, from 1973 to 1978, and Cheltenham College in the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1981 for his High School Certificate. He then studied at the London Hospital Medical College of the University of London from 1982 to 1987, where he obtained his M.B.B.S (London).
Abubakar Bukola Saraki (born December 19, 1962) is a Nigerian politician who has been the President of the Nigeria's Senate since 2015. Previously he was the Governor of Kwara State under the platform of PDP (People's Democratic Party) from 2003 to 2011. He was first elected to the Senate in April 2011 under the platform of PDP, representing the Kwara Central senatorial district, and re-elected in the March 2015 election under the platform of APC (All Progressive Congress).
He decamped back to his former party, the People's Democratic Party on 31st of July 2018.
Personal life :
Bukola Saraki is married to Toyin (née Ojora) Saraki. They have four children together.
Saraki was made the Turaki of the Fula emirate of Ilorin.
A Turaki is an officer at court in the Hausa-Fulani kingdoms. On 22nd of July, the Emir of Ilorin elevated him to the position of "Wazirin Gari" (traditional Prime minister) of the Fula emirate of Ilorin.
Career :
Saraki worked as a medical officer at Rush Green Hospital, Essex, from 1988 to 1989. He was a director of Société Générale Bank (Nig) Ltd from 1990 to 2000.
In 2000, President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed Saraki as Special Assistant to the President on Budget.
During his tenure, Saraki initiated the Fiscal Responsibility Bill. Saraki also served on the Economic Policy Coordination Committee, where he was responsible for the formulation and implementation of several key economic policies for Nigeria.
Abubakar Bukola Saraki as the governor of Kwara state :
In 2003, he ran for the office of governor of Kwara State on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and won. He was sworn into office in May 2003. He ran again for re-election in 2007 and won his second term. As governor of Kwara, he led reforms in agriculture, health, education, finance and environment policy. One of his major achievements was inviting displaced white farmers from Zimbabwe to Kwara State and offering them an opportunity to farm. This led to the establishment of Shonga Farms programme, which is now being replicated across Nigeria.
He was also appointed as the chairman of the Nigeria Governors' forum.
Power generation and electricity
Under Saraki, Kwara became the first state to complete the Nigeria Independent Power Project. In collaboration with the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, Saraki re-energised the Ganmo Power Station at Ilorin, and connected over 3750 rural communities to the national grid through the development and installation of 725 transformers and 7 substations. In Kwara he also completed 4 electrification projects which meant power became stable 18–22 hours a day. 90% of people living in Kwara have access to electricity, compared to a national average in Nigeria of 30%.
Primary health care :
While in office, Saraki introduced new health programmes, including a statewide campaign in 2008 to reduce maternal and child mortality from malaria. This included distribution of insecticide-treated nets and free malaria drugs to pregnant mothers and to children under the age of five.
A statewide programme of hospital development was also implemented, leading to the redevelopment of hospitals in Afon, Patigi and Lafiagi. Other measures included improved training and re-training for medical staff; refurbishment of hospitals and staff living quarters; and employment of qualified medical doctors and other health workers. Many of the primary care programmes were sponsored by international agencies such as WHO and UNICEF.
Agriculture and farming:
Saraki introduced agricultural policy reforms to increase the commercial viability of farming, and also the volume of exports to international markets. The New Nigerian Farmers Initiative was designed to improve the technical capability of farmers and to ensure farmers had a significant financial stake in new investment in agriculture. The scheme utilised the under-used agricultural expertise in the Zimbabwean farming industry, and worked with Zimbabwe's Commercial Farmers' Union to identify highly skilled farmers able to support Nigeria’s farming industry and to move to Kwara and develop the farming industry.
A commercial hub was also developed to build capacity support training for the indigenous farming community.
Infrastructure development :
Saraki led significant and statewide infrastructural development, including improvements at the Ilorin International Airport Cargo Terminal, extensive road construction, and development of new sporting facilities such as Kwara Football Academy. The State has an ongoing goal of a logistics and cargo hub in Nigeria and the region.
Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum:
Saraki became chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum in 2007. Under Bukola Saraki’s Chairmanship, a reformed Forum was established, with a fully resourced secretariat, with a technical and administrative division that was entirely focused on delivery.
Under Saraki’s chairmanship, new processes such as the State Peer Review Mechanism were developed to ensure closer working and collaboration, and that best practices could be shared between states. The mechanism allowed case studies to be shared between states in a number of policy fields including power projects, primary healthcare centres for villages and other rural locations, roadworks, water, solar schemes and the construction of specialist hospitals and state universities. Projects such as these had previously remained undisclosed.
Polio immunisation and the Immunisation Leadership Challenge:
The Forum developed better and more extensive polio immunisation in Nigeria. A key part of this was the introduction in 2011 of the Immunisation Leadership Challenge. The Challenge was designed to reward states in Nigeria that made significant improvements in polio and routine immunisation coverage by the end of 2012.
Observing the effects of the election cycle:
the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation drove the challenge – launched in partnership with the NGF – which pledged to award US $500,000 to states that met a pre-defined threshold of improvement. The overall objective was to fast-track achievement of the milestone of interrupting further transmission of the wild polio virus in Nigeria. The grant would be used to support governors' top health priorities, including malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV prevention and treatment, safe drinking water and hygiene programmes. The Gates Foundation also promised to match contributions by states to their chosen health project up to US $250,000. By the end of 2012 the number of polio cases dropped by about 50%.
The NGF and Global Development Partners :
Under Dr Bukola Saraki’s chairmanship a number of Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) have been signed, including but not limited to the World Bank, DFID, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, GAVI, UNICEF, UNDP.
International work and appointments :
In 2012, Saraki was appointed onto the leadership council of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, an initiative led by the United Nations Foundation supporting public-private partnerships to create a market for clean cookstoves and fuels. In 2013, Saraki established GLOBE Nigeria as an affiliate of the Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment (GLOBE International), establishing a platform for legislators to advance environmental and sustainable development laws in Nigeria. He currently serves as GLOBE Nigeria’s President.
Saraki has also spoken and campaigned internationally on issues such as better governance, deforestation and economic development.
Senatorial career:
After two term tenure as governor of Kwara State, Bukola Saraki ran for the office of Senator, representing the Kwara Central Senatorial District. He won, succeeding his sister, Gbemisola Saraki-Forowa. He was appointed as the chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology and is also a member of the Senate Committee on Capital Markets and Finance. He pushed a motion in the Senate to end the fuel subsidy regime in Nigeria, which has been an excessive waste of the country’s national resources.
Senator Saraki has campaigned extensively on health, food security, education and the environment. He has argued for strengthened laws on the clean up of oil spills. His National Oil Spill and Detection and Response Agency Amendment Bill seeks to ensure oil companies pay appropriate levels of compensation to communities affected by oil spills.
Saraki intervened in the lead poisoning crisis in Zamfara State in 2010 and has supported to the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, which ensures safe and healthy methods of cooking for millions of Nigerians while conserving the environment through reduced deforestation. He has been a lead campaigner in the areas of desertification and climate change in the Senate and across Nigeria.
Saraki sponsored a motion on the floor of the Senate to end Nigeria’s fuel subsidy regime. Other motions and private member bills he has sponsored include the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency Amendment Bill 2012, which was aimed at putting a halt to oil spills in the Niger Delta, the Gas Flaring Prohibition Bill 2012 and the Climate Change Commission Bill 2013.
Saraki expressed regret after his supporters died in a human stampede at his residence. This was not the first time that people had been killed during his family's habit of distributing money and food to their supporters.
Senate Presidency :
After his re-election in the 2015 general elections, Saraki was on 9 June 2015 elected unopposed as President of the Senate by an across the party alliance comprising PDP and APC Senators. Saraki had faced stiff opposition from Senator Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan who was a preferred candidate by a group of senators-elect within the APC.
His deputy, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, emerged after a tightly contested election.
Senator Bukola Saraki and a delegation of Senators visited Maiduguri, Borno State on 3 August 2015 to get an on-ground assessment of the damage done in the north-eastern part of Nigeria by terrorist group Boko Haram and to give hope to internally displaced persons. The delegation was the first of it's kind by the leadership of the Senate since the insurgency began.
Saraki is a current 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 July 31, 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 of his former party.
Code of Conduct Tribunal :
The Code of Conduct Bureau cited a 13-count charge of corruption against Saraki. In charge number ABT/01/15, dated September 11, 2015 and filed before the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Saraki is accused of offences ranging from anticipatory declaration of assets to making false declaration of assets in forms Saraki had filed with the Code of Conduct Bureau while he was governor of Kwara state. He was also accused of failing to declare some assets he acquired while in office as governor, acquiring assets beyond his legitimate earnings, and accused of operating foreign accounts while being a public officer.
An official of the Code of Conduct Bureau, Peter Danladi, stated in a court affidavit that the investigation of the various petitions of corruption, theft, money laundering, among others, against Saraki in 2010, was conducted jointly by the officials of the EFCC, CCB and the DSS. “The EFCC conducted its investigation on the various petitions and made findings which showed that the defendant/applicant abused his office, while he was the governor of Kwara State and was involved in various acts of corruption as the governor of the state. The defendant/applicant borrowed huge sums of money running into billions from commercial banks, particularly Guaranty Trust Bank, and used the proceeds of the loan to acquire several landed properties in Lagos, Abuja and London, while he was the governor of Kwara State.
Arrest Warrants Against Saraki :
Bukola Saraki became the first Senate President in Nigeria to be issued with arrest warrants, when Danladi Umar, Chairman of the Code Of Conduct Tribunal, issued an arrest warrant against Saraki on September 18, 2015.
Saraki's 79-Lawyer Legal Team :
On March 18, 2016, Kanu Godwin Agabi, Saraki's lead counsel and ex-attorney general of Nigeria, led a delegation of 79 lawyers to defend Saraki at the tribunal.
Code of Conduct Tribunal :
The Code of Conduct Bureau cited a 13-count charge of corruption against Saraki. In charge number ABT/01/15, dated September 11, 2015 and filed before the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Saraki is accused of offences ranging from anticipatory declaration of assets to making false declaration of assets in forms Saraki had filed with the Code of Conduct Bureau while he was governor of Kwara state. He was also accused of failing to declare some assets he acquired while in office as governor, acquiring assets beyond his legitimate earnings, and accused of operating foreign accounts while being a public officer.
An official of the Code of Conduct Bureau, Peter Danladi, stated in a court affidavit that the investigation of the various petitions of corruption, theft, money laundering, among others, against Saraki in 2010, was conducted jointly by the officials of the EFCC, CCB and the DSS. “The EFCC conducted its investigation on the various petitions and made findings which showed that the defendant/applicant abused his office, while he was the governor of Kwara State and was involved in various acts of corruption as the governor of the state. The defendant/applicant borrowed huge sums of money running into billions from commercial banks, particularly Guaranty Trust Bank, and used the proceeds of the loan to acquire several landed properties in Lagos, Abuja and London, while he was the governor of Kwara State.
Arrest Warrants Against Saraki :
Bukola Saraki became the first Senate President in Nigeria to be issued with arrest warrants, when Danladi Umar, Chairman of the Code Of Conduct Tribunal, issued an arrest warrant against Saraki on September 18, 2015.
Saraki's 79-Lawyer Legal Team
On March 18, 2016, Kanu Godwin Agabi, Saraki's lead counsel and ex-attorney general of Nigeria, led a delegation of 79 lawyers to defend Saraki at the tribunal.
Discharge and Acquittal by Supreme Court of Nigeria on Corruption Allegations :
On Friday, July 6, 2018, the Supreme Court of the Federal Republic of Nigeria dismissed all 18 charges of corruption and false asset declaration brought against the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, by the Federal Government, following his election as Senate President. In a judgement on July 6, a five-member panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Dattijo Mohammed, held that the decision of the appeal court to agree with the tribunal in one breath and order Mr Saraki’s return to the CCT in another, amounted to a “judicial summersault.” Therefore, the court affirmed the June 2017 decision of the Code of Conduct Tribunal which ruled that the prosecution failed to prove the case against Dr. Bukola Saraki.
Culled from Wikipedia by Chantel Adanna Chinyere.
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