Senate President Bukola Saraki has revealed that he
supported President Muhammadu Buhari’s candidature in 2015 because he did not
want to be part of the All Progressive Congress (APC)’s problem.
Saraki defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to
the APC in January 2014 and there were speculations that he would contest in
the APC presidential primary election.
In response to a publication by African Confidential in
which he was said to be one of “those who stood against Muhammadu Buhari for
the All Progressives Congress nomination in 2014”, and also that he had
“retained London Communications consultants Aequitas, which helped Labour Party
to remake its image under Tony Blair in the mid-1990s”, Saraki’s spokesman,
Yusuph Olaniyonu, said his principal had publicly announced that he would not
run against Buhari in October 2014.
“First, please note that your claims above are not correct.
Dr Saraki did not contest the last presidential primaries of the All
Progressives Congress. Dr Saraki publicly announced in a statement in Ilorin on
October 12, 2014, that he would not contest against Major General Muhammadu
Buhari (rtd) who was then an aspirant because ‘some of us need to make
sacrifice and be part of the solution rather than part of the problem of the
party’.
He then declared that he would support the candidacy of the retired
General. Dr Saraki was one of the people who worked tirelessly to ensure
General Buhari won the APC ticket, and the general election,” he said in a
letter.
“Again, contrary to the claim in your article, Dr Saraki
does not retain the services of Aequitas. He formerly engaged Aequitas for
strategic policy services while he was governor of Kwara state, and chair of
the Nigeria governors forum, and at the initial stage of his period as senate
president. He no longer retains the services of Aequitas effective from January
1, 2017”, he stated.
Olaniyonu added that Saraki had “equally pledged his full
support for and commitment to the success of the administration of President
Muhammadu Buhari”.
By Ifreke Inyang
