From Wole Adedeji, Ilorin
The governorship and state House of Assembly election in Kwara State, which took place on March 9, 2019, finally consigned the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, to the dustbin of political history in the North central state. The routing started on February 23, when Saraki was roundly beaten in the senatorial election by Yahaya Oloriegbe of the All Progressives Congress, APC, for the Kwara Central Senatorial District.
The Kwara State election could be described as the clash of political titans. It pitched President Muhammadu Buhari against the number three citizen and the entire state became the battle ground. But, Buhari was on the background of the battle as the frontline was led by Information Minister, Lai Mohammed alongside other combatants. By the sideline was the former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, whom Dr. Saraki dragged into the political fray.
The confrontation between the president and the leader of the nation’s National Assembly has a history behind it. In 2014, Saraki joined APC, newly formed to wrest power from then incumbent, President Goodluck Jonathan. He apparently read the mood of the nation correctly and joined the bandwagon in order to retain his senate seat. Saraki at the time became the chief war propagandist of the ‘change’ mantra. He sang and cried so loud about the integrity of Buhari; a disciplinarian, anti-corruption fighter and a man with a strict military background, who could put an end to the frightening state of insecurity in Nigeria in addition to the promise to fix the nation’s economy that was drifting into an abyss.
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With the APC winning the presidential election and majority in the National Assembly, political calculation immediately took centre stage and within the shortest possible time, the party was in turmoil, as a result of happenings over the leadership of NASS. Going against party position and zoning arrangement, Senator Saraki employed the style of a master dribbler to emerge the Senate President. Although, President Buhari, at the time, said he was comfortable with whoever emerges as the leaders of NASS, events later proved that there was a wide gulf between the executive and the legislative arms of government.
As such, for each passing day, the gulf between the number one and the number three citizen widened. As the leader back home, every body language of Saraki became a music that his massive supporters danced to. So, as the 2019 elections drew nearer, it was no surprise that Saraki, once again decided to lead his troops back to his old political party, PDP.
His return to the PDP provided the tonic needed by Abuja and APC to link up with the opposition back home. Adams Oshiomhole, APC national chairman, resumed the roles Saraki played in 2014 when they left PDP. Name calling became the order of the day, as the general elections were drawing close. It became worse when the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, lifted the ban on public campaigns. That was when Saraki directly faced President Buhari, accusing him of ineptitude and doing nothing in Kwara State to show Federal Government presence in the state. He also accused the president of not giving him consideration in appointments into federal agencies.
The influence of Saraki in Kwara politics has never been without opposition. The oppositions come up seasonally, but also failed to hit the target seasonally. This time, it was not to be so.
When as the head of legislature, Saraki caused a bitter battle with the executive, the opposition back home put up spirited efforts to beam a huge searchlight on his bad sides and that of the hegemony he represented. The matter got to the peak when he returned to the PDP.
The opposition, led by Chief Iyiola Oyedepo that had found solace in PDP also left the party to replace him in the then opposition APC. Simply put, the elections marked the climax of a battle royale between two giants and the results had shown who is stronger.
Saraki, according to political sources in Ilorin calculated that the presidency was up for grabs just like in 2015, due to perceived failures of the APC-led Federal Government, which in turn, made Buhari very unpopular, especially on social media. As the Senate President, he is the chairman of the two chambers and enjoys absolute support of fellow senators across party lines.
He also enjoys supports of the members of the House of Representatives. The National Assembly can make the executive ineffective if it so decides.
Having met with failure in his foray into national politics with his presidential ambition, Saraki turned his focus on his state, ready to fend off the growing opposition, which had already came up with a catchy phrase “O to ge”. He and his family had been the game master of politics in state and, in fact, the “owner of the people” as far as politics of the state is concerned. If the state, therefore, is the battle ground, Saraki had ready-made troops on ground.
The Senate President, who was contesting again to go back to the Red Chamber of the National Assembly pushed aside his own campaign in the Kwara Central Senatorial District and took it upon himself to follow all PDP candidates to their districts and zones to campaign. At each campaign stop, Muhammadu Buhari was the subject and object of attention.
The campaign took a new dimension when the choice of the governorship candidate of APC was resolved by the court in favour of Alhaji AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq. At this point, Saraki turned his dirt throwing at Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
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He said AbdulRahman would hand over Kwara to the Lagos politician and was calling on the people not to vote for either Buhari or AbdulaRazaq. He also campaigned that Kwara would be taken to the South West if APC was voted for and vowed that he, Saraki, would not live to see that happen.
Realising that the state was going the way of the opposition, pockets of attacks started taking place and the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who was visiting the state few days to the election was not spared. His convoy was shot at in broad daylight in the heart of Ilorin and the local government area of the Senate President. The spate of attacks spread to Oyun Local Government where the campaign train of an APC Senatorial candidate, Lola Ashiru was shot at near the palace of Olojoku of Ojoku, the home town of the PDP senatorial candidate, Senator Rafiu Ibrahim. One person was killed and others sustained severe gunshot wounds and Ibrahim was subsequently arrested, along with some others.
This state of insecurity permeates the state throughout the elections of February 23 and March 9, 2019. This state of affairs, however, attracted the deployment of security agents from the army, the air force, navy, NSCDC, immigrations to complement the police to provide maximum security for the elections. A step was taken further when the air force deployed helicopter for air surveillance in the first exercise and a fighter jet for the second leg of the election.
Going by the results of the elections where Saraki, along with his presidential candidate, House of Representatives and senatorial candidates, the governor candidate and all the twenty four House of Assembly candidates lost, had shown the stronger side in the fight.
However, it is safe to say that Bukola Saraki lives to fight another day. But for now, the political matrimony of 2014 apparently, was the gathering of strange bed fellows.