Sola Ojo, Kaduna
Chairman, Board of Trustees, Coalition of Northern Groups, Nastura Ashir Sharif, has described the President of the 8th Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, as among the greatest lawmakers to occupy the office in recent times.
Speaking in Kaduna on Monday, Sharif noted that, unlike several ex-governors who saw the Senate as a rest stop, Senator Saraki joined the hallowed chamber in 2011 to work and leave behind his footprints, providing thorough legislation between 2015 and 2019 as the number three citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
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“In Nigeria, a favourite myth is that governors or other executives fare badly in the Senate. They are, it is believed, extremely unhappy at sharing their command authority with 112 others,” Sharif observed.
“But then came a man like Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki, who found the path to power in the Senate ridiculously easy to explore.
“The most outstanding of his feats was his 2015 discovery of the petroleum subsidy scam, the biggest fraud in the Nigerian government in recent years.
“Then, by exuding ample energy, eloquence, wit, good humour, intelligence, frankness, and honour, Bukola Saraki, serving in the Nigerian Senate since 2011, acquired seniority and steady rose to become its president in 2015.
“His four-year tenure was not without challenges. The first major hurdle was the controversy surrounding his emergence as President of the Senate.”
Sharif concluded that: “There are no standard tests to apply to a Senator. His talents may vary with his time, his contributions may be limited by his politics, but to judge his true greatness is nearly an impossible task.”
