Bukola Saraki, a former president of the Senate, claims that the 8th National Assembly was unable to pass substantive legislation because the Muhammadu Buhari administration constantly harassed and blocked it.
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Saraki reflected on his tenure in office between 2015 and 2019, regretting how the executive arm undercut the legislative arm, while speaking at the 2025 Reunion Gala of the King’s College Old Boys Association (KCOBA) in Houston, Texas. The legislature, he argues, was established “to make laws, oversee the executive, and represent the people.”
There needs to be integrity in a legislative leader. Speaking truth to authority requires courage. These three things gave me the courage to act this way, he stated in a speech that his spokesperson, Yusuf Olaniyonu, shared with the public.
In his criticism of the public’s lack of support during his presidency, Saraki said that the silence of citizens in the face of criticism of his leadership undermined the National Assembly.
The executive intentionally thwarted the passage of helpful laws, initiatives, and recommendations, and the legislature was harassed, assaulted, bullied, and blackmailed when I was in charge, he added. “We were without parents.”
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“The elite and ordinary people kept quiet, were nonchalant, and stayed aloof,” Saraki continued. Now, following our departure from office, the National Assembly’s successor leadership would prefer to remain silent and act like a rubber stamp in order to avoid Saraki’s terrifying ordeal.
He claimed that the executive branch obstructed efforts to improve the economy of Nigeria by blocking measures like a change to the Public Procurement Act that would have given preference to products and services created in Nigeria.
What he saw as political meddling in the 2019 election season led to the bill’s demise.
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He claimed that he would have been welcomed as an ally and loyalist if he had agreed with all of Buhari’s policies. “My deal-cutting skills were second to none.”
Saraki stated that many newly elected authorities in Nigeria rely on “government scammers” who reuse the same concepts from administration to administration due to a lack of vision and strategy upon taking office.
An enabler for the constant failure of leadership, this is a tremendous failure of followership, he said. These unfortunate events show how inadequate our institutions are. We are not erecting institutions, but rather powerful men and women.
In 2015, Saraki became Senate President with the backing of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), going against the grain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership. Since then, his relationship with the Buhari administration has been difficult.
A string of court battles that many saw as politically motivated also distinguished his tenure in government. The APC tried and failed to have him removed from office after he eventually switched to the PDP.