By OBSERVERS TIMES
Bukola Saraki, former Senate President, has claimed that the eighth National Assembly faced significant obstruction from the executive branch during his tenure from 2015 to 2019, largely due to his refusal to compromise on critical issues.
Speaking at the 2025 Reunion Gala of the King’s College Old Boys Association (KCOBA) in Houston, Texas, Saraki expressed that the legislature was continuously “harassed and obstructed” by the Buhari administration.
In his remarks, shared with OBSERVERS TIMES by his spokesperson Yusuf Olaniyonu, Saraki lamented that the repeated attacks against him went largely unnoticed by the public, ultimately undermining the effectiveness of his successors in the National Assembly.
“The legislature is an institution created to make laws, oversee the executive, and represent the people,” Saraki asserted. “A legislative leader must possess character and the courage to speak truth to power. My confidence to act in this manner stemmed from three key sources.”
Saraki questioned why he, as Senate President, could not lead the Senate in demanding transparency regarding the loans sought by the executive branch. He suggested that had he complied with all of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s requests, he would have been celebrated as a loyal ally.
He further alleged that the executive branch systematically thwarted efforts to pass meaningful legislation. “We were not successful because the bills became entangled in the politics leading up to the 2019 elections, and thus did not receive the necessary attention from the House of Representatives,” he explained.
“The legislature under my leadership was silenced, harassed, assaulted, bullied, and blackmailed, while the executive deliberately frustrated the passage of beneficial laws and initiatives,” Saraki added. “We felt like orphans.”
He criticized both the elite and ordinary citizens for their complacency during his tenure. “Now, years after we left office, the subsequent leadership of the National Assembly has opted to be a rubber stamp, avoiding the challenges I faced.”
Saraki remarked, “I could have aligned myself with everything the Buhari presidency wanted and made deals along the way. I would have been a good ally.”
Reflecting on the current state of the National Assembly, he expressed indifference to criticisms of its performance compared to his own tenure, attributing this to a failure of followership that enables ongoing leadership failures.
“These troubling developments indicate that our institutions are weak. Instead of building robust institutions, we are cultivating strong individuals,” he stated.
Saraki attributed Nigeria’s leadership challenges to elected officials entering office without clear plans or vision, often leading to impulsive governance or reliance on “government scammers” who recycle the same ideas across administrations.
Notably, Saraki defied the All Progressives Congress (APC) hierarchy in 2015 to become Senate President, with support from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which strained his relationship with the Buhari administration. His tenure was marked by legal battles perceived by some as politically motivated, escalating tensions further after he defected to the PDP, prompting a failed APC-led effort to unseat him.
