I May Run Against Buhari, Saraki Finally Reveals 2019 Ambition

Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, on Wednesday, revealed plans to run against President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 presidential election.

“I am consulting and actively considering it. I believe I can make the change,” Saraki told Bloomberg in an interview at his Abuja residence.

The Senate President’s revelation is coming barely two weeks after he defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Saraki told the New York based financial newspaper that if elected Nigeria’s president, he could bring the desired transformation that the country’s citizens have long desired of an ideal leader.

The Senate President criticised the Buhari-led administration, saying: “If a government can go and lock up an arm of government — and it’s never happened in our history — we should all be very concerned,”

On the recent conduct of the All Progressives Congress-led government, Saraki said: “We should not be surprised that they would use security agencies for elections.”

He further said, “The PDP has learnt its lesson from the loss in 2015, and I think unfortunately the APC did not learn from their victory.

“we listed a number of issues. We talked about how to sustain and improve the fight against corruption; the issue of providing more powers to the states; inclusion and having a more nationalistic approach on things we do; to continue to improve the environment that will ensure investments. We listed a number of items during the discussions with the PDP, and there is a written agreement to that. We trust that we can hold them to that.

“We would ensure that the party is strong on security. The APC too have not done well on the issue of security. We have the opportunity with the right kind of presidential candidate and president to provide the leadership for the party. The party has a good opportunity to lead the country in the right direction,” Saraki told Bloomberg.