Inside The Collapse: Former Minister Explains The Fall Of Saraki’s Kwara Empire

Former Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Bolaji Abdullahi, has described former Senate President Bukola Saraki’s 2018 defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a major political miscalculation that accelerated the collapse of the Saraki political dynasty in Kwara State.

Abdullahi made the revelation in his memoir, The Loyalist, which is being presented to the public today, Tuesday.

The 297-page book chronicles Abdullahi’s two decades in Nigerian politics, providing an insider account of key events at both state and federal levels.

A long-time associate of Saraki and now spokesperson for the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Abdullahi revisits the 2019 general elections, which ended the Saraki family’s long-standing dominance of Kwara politics.

Before then, Saraki had served eight years as governor and another eight years as senator, including a term as Senate President from 2015 to 2019.

According to Abdullahi, Saraki’s emergence as Senate President in 2015 without APC leadership support marked the start of sustained political tension. Saraki secured the position with backing from opposition senators, despite the party preferring Ahmad Lawan. Abdullahi said this strained relations between the National Assembly and the Presidency throughout the 8th National Assembly.

He added that Saraki’s 2018 defection to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) further intensified the conflict.

Abdullahi noted that Saraki had a critical opportunity to rebuild bridges after the Supreme Court cleared him of a false asset declaration case on July 6, 2018. The ruling, he said, could have been a turning point to restore relations with the APC and the Presidency, but Saraki failed to act.

“By leaving the party, he transformed what was essentially a civil conflict into a full-blown war with an opponent that had vastly superior firepower,” Abdullahi wrote.

He argued that remaining in the APC might have secured Saraki another term as Senate President. At the PDP presidential primary in 2018, Saraki lost the ticket to Atiku Abubakar and later contested the Kwara Central senatorial seat but was defeated by APC candidate Yahaya Oloriegbe.

Abdullahi noted that the PDP governorship candidate, Abdulrazak Atunwa, along with most other PDP candidates, also lost in the 2019 elections.

The defeats paved the way for the “O to ge” movement, which dismantled the Saraki political structure in Kwara. Abdullahi said the 2019 elections marked the first time since 1979 that political leaders emerged in the state without Saraki’s backing.

He added that the APC’s continued dominance in the 2023 elections further cemented Saraki’s absence from elective office and highlighted the long-term consequences of his 2018 defection.