“My offence, I help to frustrate some people’s opportunity to emerge as President Buhari’s running mate” - Bukola Saraki

The Senate President Bukola Saraki made the claim in an article he wrote in reaction to an article by the publisher of Ovation Magazine, Mr Dele Momodu, on the matter.

Saraki debunked allegations that he incurred the wrath of the APC following a deal he struck with the opposition Peoples Demo­cratic Party (PDP) to cling the senate presidency. 

Saraki did not provide details of the plans by the APC to field his claimed Muslim/Muslim ticket, but speculations were rife that the APC national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had schemed to be the run­ning mate of then presidential candidate, General Muham­madu

Buhari which would have presented Nigerians with a Muslim/Muslim ticket said Saraki: “My dear brother, most people talk about the Senate Presidency position, but this was not my only of­fence. I have also been accused of helping to frustrate some people’s opportunity to emerge as President Muhammadu Buhari’s running mate. But I have no problem with anybody. My concern was that it would not be politically smart of us to run with a Muslim-Muslim ticket.

“I doubt if we would have won the election if we had done this, especially after the PDP had successfully framed us a Muslim party.

“I felt we were no longer in 1993. Perhaps, more than ever before, Nigerians are more sen­sitive to issues of religious bal­ancing.

“This, my brother, was my original sin. What they say to themselves, among other things, was that if he could conspire against our ambition, then he must not realize his own ambition as well”.

The Senate President who said he had no regrets for hold­ing the position, insisting he felt it was best for Nigeria, also revealed how he emerged the Senate President against the wishes and preferred candi­date of his party, saying that he never struck any deal with the PDP. He blamed the APC for the turnout of events.

“I feel the need to make some clarifications on some of the is­sues you raised. One of them was that in seeking to be Senate President, I struck a deal with the PDP and made it possible for one of them to be the Dep­uty Senate President. I know this is the dominant narrative out there, but it is far from the truth.

“I did not do any deal with the PDP. I did not have to be­cause even before the PDP Senators as a group took the decision to support my candi­dature on the eve of the inaugu­ration of the 8th Senate, 22 PDP Senators had already written a letter supporting me. “What I did not envisage was a situation where some members of my party would not be in the cham­bers that day, especially when the Clerk had already received a proclamation from the Presi­dent authorizing the inaugura­tion of the Senate.

“Pray, if a team refused to turn up for a scheduled match and was consequently walked over, would it be fair to blame the team that turned up and claimed victory? I believe those that made it possible for PDP to claim the DSP position were those who decided to hold a meeting with APC senators elsewhere at the time they ought to be in the chambers.

“What the PDP Senators did was to take advantage of their numerical strength at the mate­rial time. They simply lined up behind Senator Ike Ekweremadu, while those of us from APC voted for Senator Ali Ndume.

“It was a game of numbers, and we were hopelessly out­numbered. If the PDP had nominated their own candidate for the Senate Presidency posi­tion that day, they would have won. It was as simple as that,” he stressed.

Saraki equally shed light on the genesis of his face-off with former President Goodluck Jonathan and explained that it all started when he blew the lid on the N2.3trn fuel subsidy racket.

According to him, he became a marked man after he exposed the shady fuel subsidy deal on the floor of the senate chamber.

“My real problems with Presi­dent Goodluck Jonathan? I have had a touchy relationship with him, but the turning point was in September, 2011, when I moved a motion on the floor of the Senate that exposed the N2.3 trillion fuel subsidy.

“I remain proud that I was the Senator that blew the lid on the most elaborate corruption scheme ever in this country.

“But after that, I became a marked man. My security was withdrawn. I was invited and re-invited by the EFCC and the Special Fraud Unit (SFU). I was even declared wanted at a point. I believe I am still one of the most investigated former governors in this country.

“I have no doubt that if the Jonathan government was able to find anything against me, they would not have allowed me to go unpunished,” he added.

Saraki, who said he did not expect to be persecuted by a party he helped to attain vic­tory, metaphorically noted: “on trial with me are our entire anti-corruption institutions and our avowed commitment to honest­ly fight corruption. On trial with me is our party’s promise to de­part from the ways of the past, a promise that Nigerians voted for. And I dare say, on trial with me is our media; and their ethi­cal commitment to report fairly and objectively.”