‘I Have Not Met Tinubu Since He Became President’ — Saraki
Former Senate President Bukola Saraki has cleared President Bola Tinubu of any involvement in the legal and political persecution he endured during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, while also firmly rejecting claims that he is currently working for the president or the ruling All Progressives Congress.
Saraki made the clarifications during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, addressing narratives that have persistently trailed him in recent political discourse.
Responding to a question on whether he felt betrayed by Tinubu over his Buhari-era travails, Saraki said it would be unfair to hold the current president responsible for legal battles initiated under a different administration.
“That’s not fair on President Ahmed Bola Tinubu because in those days of former President’s administration, he didn’t have that say that they claimed he may had,” Saraki said.
He traced his political difficulties to decisions he took as Senate President, which he maintained were driven by national interest rather than personal ambition.
“My issue with that administration is that I was doing what I felt was the interest of the country as the President of the Senate and for doing those things, I was now persecuted,” he stated.
Saraki specifically distanced Tinubu from three flashpoint episodes that defined his turbulent tenure — the Code of Conduct Bureau trial, the Offa robbery allegations, and the National Assembly forgery case.
“Bola Ahmed Tinubu was not part of those who took decision and implemented going to Code of Conduct or Offa Robbery or forgery of the national assembly. That was the executive part of the government,” he said.
Beyond the historical clarification, Saraki pushed back against insinuations of a behind-the-scenes alliance with Tinubu or the APC, insisting that no private meeting between himself and the president has taken place since Tinubu assumed office in May 2023.
“I’m not somebody that says things that I’m not going to do. Have you heard me since the president has been in power for how many years, nobody can tell you I’ve sat down to meet the president,” he said.
He further stressed his reputation for open political engagement, rejecting any suggestion of nocturnal dealmaking.
“I don’t go there at night, I am not a night person. If I am going to do something I come out and beat my chest and say I am going to do it,” Saraki added.
Saraki, who served as Senate President from 2015 to 2019 under the APC before defecting to the Peoples Democratic Party, has remained a prominent voice in Nigerian opposition politics. His tenure was marked by repeated clashes with the Buhari presidency, culminating in multiple high-profile prosecutions that were eventually dismissed or acquitted.