Bukola Saraki: The Proud Man Who Dug His Own Grave

At the inception of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, the president and the ruling party, the APC made it known to all that they don’t need a senate president with excess baggage.

They don’t need a senate president with outstanding corruption cases because they want to maintain a neat and focused leadership devoid of personalities with ongoing corruption cases.

Ordinarily, Senator George Akume was supposed to emerge as the senate president in the sense that he was the senate minority leader when his party (APC) was in the opposition.

With APC coming to power, he was supposed to be automatically elevated to the senate presidency.

But his ambition was cut short after President Buhari insisted that his number three man must be devoid of any outstanding corruption case. Akume has an outstanding case with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

Seeing the danger ahead and also not wanting to go against his party’s wish, the political field Marshall, the Asiwaju – Bola Tinubu – who had supported the Akume candidature, did a political somersault and advised his friend, Akume, to deter his ambition and transferred his support to the party’s preferred choice being Senator Lawan of Yobe State.

 

Once again, Asiwaju Tinubu proved to be the master political strategist, knowing when to either pull out, move forward or move backwards.

Unlike Akume, Saraki has more serious outstanding corruption cases hanging on his head and could have also deferred his ambition but pride and stupidity took hold of him and he decided to go extreme.