Saraki: How I defeated the ‘Emperor of Bourdillon’

Former Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukoka Saraki on Monday met delegates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos, appealing to them to support his move to secure the party’s Presidential ticket.

He told the delegates that he remains their own as someone who last defeated the “Emperor of Bourdillon” who vowed that he would not become the Senate President.

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In 2015, Saraki, who was a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), emerged Senate President against the wish of some party leaders, including Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Speaking at a meeting with the delegates, Saraki said as he defeated the Emperor of Bourdillon, making reference to the former Governor of the state, he would help the party reclaim the state in 2023.

He said, “And you all know that I was the last person that defeated your Emperor of Bourdillon who said that I would not be Senate President but I said ”No. I would be Senate President’. And you know that I would ensure and fight and God’s willing in 2023, PDP would take Lagos State. We will take Lagos State. We started that effort with the issue of reconciliation.”

He said due to the reconciliatory effort he spearheaded, PDP is united in Lagos and many other states like Plateau, Ogun, Oyo, among others.

Saraki also said the move by the executive to remove him as Senate President failed because he was a team player and his colleagues had confidence in him.

He reiterated that no candidate, whether in the APC or the PDP, has his kind of experience and capacity to lead the country.

He also decried the state of the nation, saying Nigeria is inching towards a failed state and requires a President with the capacity to redirect the country on a path of growth and unity.

Saraki accompanied by former PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Kawu Baraje, said, “Today in Nigeria we all see where this country is. We have never seen this level of disunity in the entire history of this country even at the difficult time of the Civil War. The level of insecurity today is frightening. Today as a country we are inching towards a failed state.

“A failing state is defined when the authority of the state no longer has a monopoly upon violence. Today, there are parts of the state we just can’t go. It was not like that eight years ago. Today, the level of banditry…we are the World Capital for kidnapping, we are the World Capital for Poverty, youth unemployment.

“This is not the Nigeria we all dreamt off. So this time, we want a President that can do the job and we must ask ourselves what kind of President is that? I believe the President we have now is the President that can unite this country because without unity, you cannot have progress.

“To unite this country, you must be somebody that everybody will feel comfortable with and say yes that is the Nigerian for all Nigerians. I believe that I can be and I am best to be that bridge between the North and the South of Nigeria.”