By Kolawole Ojebisi
Former Senate President, Bukola Saraki has alleged that the 8th National Assembly under his leadership was hamstrung by the Muhammadu Buhari administration
The ex-senate President maintained that the Buhari-led executive’s stance inhibited the National Assembly’s legislative duties, stressing that both chambers could not pass laws that would impact Nigerians.
This is contained in a statement issued by spokesman to the former Kwara governor, Yusuph Olaniyonu, on Monday.
According to the statement Saraki made the allegations at the 2025 Reunion Gala of the King’s College Old Boys Association, KCOBA, in Houston, Texas on Monday.
“We were like orphans,” the former Kwara State governor was quoted to have said while accusing the elite and ordinary people of keeping quiet and nonchalant over the actions of the Buhari-led Executive.
The statement reads partly: “The legislature under my leadership was silenced, harassed, assaulted, bullied, and blackmailed, and the executive deliberately frustrated the passage of good laws, initiatives, and recommendations that would have been highly beneficial to our society.
“I could have agreed with everything the Presidency under Buhari wanted and cut deals with them all the way. I would have been a good ally.”
Recall that in the buildup 2015 election, Saraki was part of the splinter group who left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to form a coalition party that eventually became the All Progressives Congress (APC).
But things turned awry when Saraki resorted to gamesmanship in his bid to become the Senate President without the consent of the majority of his new party members.
This development turned Saraki against the bigwigs in the APC. Lawmakers on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, had backed Saraki’s emergence as Senate President.
Shortly after becoming the Senate President, Saraki defected back to the PDP.
Saraki’s decision to become the then-Senate President led to a unfriendly relationship with the Buhari-led executive.
During his time as Senate President, the National Assembly endured a frosty relationship with the Executive.
