EXCLUSIVE: Senate President Bukola Saraki returns to PDP

Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki, Nigeria's Senate President.

Senate President, Bukola Saraki has returned to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Nigerian Times can exclusively report. Saraki met with the PDP caucus this evening at the Abuja home of his deputy in the Senate, Ike Ekeremadu at the Apo Legislative Quarters. After the meeting,Ike Ekweremadu, Deputy Senate President, led a group of senators to Goodluck Jonathan’s Maitama home to brief him. The meeting with Jonathan is on going at press time.

Saraki has been facing prosecution at the Code of Conduct Tribunal for falsely declare assets.

A source who was at the meeting told Nigerian Times that Saraki, who has faced persecution from the leadership of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) decided to leave the party and return to the PDP, which he left in 2014 with five PDP Governors.
The source said Saraki says he will use the PDP as a platform to actualize his ambition. He added that Saraki is likely to take with him to the PDP, APC Senators loyal to him. This would affect the balance of power in the Senate as the PDP would most like upturn the APC’s majority in the Red Chamber.

“Saraki has finally had it with the APC and the Buhari government. He believes he has faced enough embarassment and persecution from them after his investments to help the party wrest power from the PDP, ” our source said. Last week, he was in Sokoto, on the pretext of condoling the family of late Umaru Shinkaffi. But sources familiar with the Saraki travails told this Newspaper that he met with the Sultan of sokoto to prevail on President Mohammadu Buhari to pull back his loyalists are who bent on sending Saraki to jail. And as a last ditch effort, he got former senate presidents to visit Buhari earlier in the week.

Saraki’s defection back to the PDP will not come as a surprise to watchers of Nigerian politics. Since his emergence as President of the Senate, he has been at odds with his party, the APC over what the party feels was his decision to present himself as candidate for the Senate Presidency against the party’s wish. The APC’s preferred candidate, was Ahmed Lawan.