Date: 2015-04-05

Fellow Nigerians, with the hard-won victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd) at the presidential election held on 28th of March, 2015. I must admit that surprisingly the interests of majority of Nigerians have shifted and switched to who is favourite to emerge the President of the Senate in the 8th National Assembly amongst the newly elected 109 senators across our dear country.

The victory of the President-Elect, Gen. Buhari is a victory the APC in Kwara State has described as a long-awaited, long-expected and well-deserved victory. This is a victory that has brought change to Nigeria. Change is finally here.

It is quite interesting that the APC has ended the 16 years dominance of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the upper chamber of the National Assembly, the Nigerian Senate with the election of 60 senators from the APC fold. The rapt attention this reality has generated from Nigerians is unprecedented and fantastic.

Without the emergence of any high-ranking APC Senator from the South-South and South-East geo-political zones, there are reliable reports that the leadership of APC has tactically zoned the position of the Senate President to North Central geo-political zone. The six North Central states namely; Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Nassarawa, Niger and Plateau States.

With the existing zoning formula and other potent and important factors, the senator representing Kwara Central senatorial district, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki is the best man for the job.

Again, the victory of the APC at the presidential poll is largely due to the merger and fusion of the legacy parties namely: All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Congress for Progressives Change (CPC), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and a faction of the PDP, the New PDP.

I referred to the defunct new PDP as a legacy party because it merged with the APC before the APC embarked on its first membership registration exercise across the country. I can personally recall how I and couple of other party leaders joined Senator Bukola Saraki to mobilise people and resources for the success of APC membership registration exercise in Kwara State in February, 2014.

The leadership role Senator Bukola Saraki played in the G7 movement against the leadership of the Bamanga Tukur-led PDP, the eventual formation of new PDP and the consequent fusion with the APC can not be over-emphasised.

Out of all the legacy parties, I can rightly say all parties except the defunct new PDP have been satisfactorily compensated in the power sharing formula of the APC.

The ANPP fold produced the incumbent National Chairman of APC, Chief John Oyegun. The CPC, my former party and a party I worked so hard to build in Kwara State as its foundation chairman, produced the President-Elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari. The ACN fold produced the newly elected Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo. It is just fair for the leadership of the APC to support the members of the defunct new PDP to produce the next Senate President in the spirit of fairness, equity, justice and inclusiveness.

I am aware some persons have tipped Distinguished Senator George Akume from Benue State for the Senate topmost job on the social media but they should be mindful that Senator David Mark from the same Benue State has held sway as the Senate President for about 8 years. With Bunue State out of the equation, this fact underscores why the leadership of the APC should consider senators from the remaining 5 states in the North Central namely; Kogi, Kwara, Nassarawa, Niger and Plateau States.

The other potent reason that dimmed the chance of Senator Akume is the fact that Senator Akume is from the same ACN fold that has produced the Vice-President-Elect, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo. It will be unjust for the ACN fold to produce Mr Vice-President and also be considered for Senate Presidency while the New PDP fold has virtually nothing to show for its supports and sacrifices to ensure the success of the APC at the presidential poll. That would also betray the spirit of fairness upon which our party, the APC, was formed.

The Bukola Saraki I know is a selfless leader with the strong attribute of inclusive leadership. In 2014, during the formation of the harmonisation committee of the APC in Kwara State, he conceded key positions to the defunct ANPP, ACN and CPC. The support Senator Bukola Saraki gave members of the ANPP, ACN and CPC attracted discomfort from his core supporters who felt the seemingly small parties got key positions in the State Executive Committee (APC) of APC in Kwara State.

The Bukola Saraki I know is an inclusive leader who conceded the only slot open to Kwara State in the APC National Executive Committee (NEC) to Alhaji Lai Muhammed, a Chieftain of the defunct ACN at the detriment of his supporters who had ambitions to contest for positions in the National Executive Committee of our party.

The Bukola Saraki I know is a leader that has sacrificed almost everything he has for the growth and success of the APC. This is a leader who sacrificed his presidential ambition for the stability of the APC by supporting the candidacy of the Gen. Buhari against the admonition of his numerous supporters, admirers and groups who urged him to contest for the exalted office of the presidency.

The Bukola Saraki I know is an hardworking leader who has worked tirelessly for the growth of APC in the North Central geo-political zone and Nigeria at large. It is not a fluke that Kwara State is one of the few states in Nigeria where the PDP doesn't exist, it is due to a trusted and responsible leadership courtesy of Senator Bukola Saraki.

The Bukola Saraki I know is the only Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria who has consistently maintained an open door policy for free exchange and flow of ideas and information from constituents and Nigerians.

The Bukola Saraki I know is the first Senator in Nigeria to post and publish weekly activities of the Senate to enable Kwarans and Nigerians to follow and contribute to developments in the Senate. This commendable gesture has brought the Senate closer to majority of Nigerians.

His fertile experience in both the private sector and public service would be brought to bear if he emerges as the Senate President of the 8th National Assembly.

The Bukola Saraki I know is articulate and youthful, his youthfulness endears him to millions of youth in Nigeria and on the Social Media. His emergence as the Senate President would be a major step to connect millions of Nigerian youths to the topmost hierarchy of leadership in our country.

The Bukola Saraki I know is cosmopolitan, hardworking, calm, mature, richly-experienced, grassroot politician, competent, learned, a humane medical doctor, well-travelled, articulate, brilliant, untiring, unassuming, quintessential and a symbol of unity and peace.

The dexterity, maturity, spirit of team work and responsible leadership with which Senator Bukola Saraki led the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) as its Chairman for two consecutive terms of 4 years qualifies him as the best man for the Senate Presidency job.

The Bukola Saraki I know is a man of many awards and honours. A two-term Governor of Kwara State who was the first Nigerian Governor to be awarded the National Honor of Commander of Order of the Niger (CON).

The greatest challenges of the 7th National Assembly is the image crises that resulted from the infamous 'jumbo pay' of lawmakers, challenges with strengthening its oversight of federal agencies, departments and ministries, failure of the executive to respect resolutions of the Senate and delay or outright refusal by the President to assent to bills passed by the Senate.

I am confident Senator Bukola Saraki has the leadership capacity to tackle these issues and to restore the confidence of Nigerians in the legislature.

This article is my personal contribution to the national debate on who is best qualified for the office of the Senate Presidency and I sincerely hope I have not embarrassed Senator Bukola Saraki because he would traditionally have objected to any idea of writing an article on the subject matter.

Sulyman Buhari is a former Chairman of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in Kwara State, a former Chairman of CPC State Chairmen Forum - North Central and the incumbent Publicity Secretary of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State.