Special Report: Bukola Saraki; The Man Who May Be Senate President

Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki

When the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) on Monday 17th April, 2011 declared Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, incumbent governor of Kwara State and scion of the Saraki political dynasty as the elected Senator for Kwara central district in the national assembly election held on Saturday 16th April, 2011, the incumbent Senate President, Rtd. Brigadier-general David Mark knew that he is in for a stiff competition for the exalted office, when the new National Assembly is inaugurated. The Senate Presidency is zoned to the North Central Zone, where both Saraki and Mark come from. Mark won re-election to the Senate.

Bukola Saraki was born on 19th December, 1962 to Kwara State political kingpin, Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki. He attended the prestigious King's College in Lagos from 1973 to 1978 and Cheltanham College in London from 1979 to 1981. His university education took him to the University of London where he studied Medicine from 1982 to 1987. He worked briefly as Medical Officer at Rush Green Hospital in London from 1988 to 1989 and returned to Nigeria to work in one of his father's companies, Societe Generale Bank(Nig)Limited as Executive Director from 1990 to 2000. In 2000, he was appointed a Senior Special Assistant on Budget Matters by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Bukola Saraki's journey to political prominence started in 2003 when with the influence of his father, he contested and won the governorship election in Kwara State on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP). In 2007, he launched a re-election bid and won. During his tenure, the man who was turbaned as the Turaki of Ilorin Emirate held the influential position of Chairman of the Governors' Forum.

The junior Saraki as he is known in the political circle recently disobeyed his father's instruction to install his half-sister, Senator Gbemisola Saraki as the next governor of Kwara State, preferring instead, one Abdul-Fatah Ahmed, who eventually won the 2011 governorship election, defeating the female Saraki who had earlier defected to the Allied Congress Party Of Nigeria(ACPN) with the senior Saraki.

Whispers reaching chidi opara reports had it that Bukola Saraki disobyed his father's instruction because of his Senate Presidency ambition, "as it would have been harder to sell his candidacy to the state and zonal caucuses of PDP if his half-sister had become the governor of Kwara State".