Former Senate President Bukola Saraki says the presidency under Muhammadu Buhari deliberately frustrated the efforts of the 8th National Assembly to pass beneficial legislation.
Speaking on Saturday at the 2025 Reunion Gala of the King’s College Old Boys Association (KCOBA) in Houston, Texas, Saraki accused the executive arm of bullying and obstructing the legislature throughout his tenure from 2015 to 2019.
“The legislature under my leadership was silenced, harassed, assaulted, bullied, and blackmailed,” Saraki said in a speech shared by his spokesperson, Yusuf Olaniyonu.
“The executive deliberately frustrated the passage of good laws, initiatives, and recommendations that would have been highly beneficial to our society.”
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Saraki said that he was constantly attacked by the presidency and yet received little public sympathy—a scenario he believes discouraged his successors from challenging executive decisions.
“The elite and ordinary people kept quiet, were nonchalant, and stayed aloof. Now, years after we left office, subsequent leadership of the National Assembly would rather be a rubber stamp and play dumb because they do not want to go through the harrowing experience that I went through,” Saraki said
He added that while he could have enjoyed favor from the presidency by conceding to all its requests, he chose instead to stand firm on principles and legislative independence.
“If I had agreed with everything the Buhari presidency wanted, I would have been a good ally,” but a legislative leader must be bold to speak truth to power,” the ex-senate president added
He cited one of his blocked efforts – an amendment to the Public Procurement Act intended to promote local goods and services – as an example of how political interests overrode national development goals.
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“We were not successful because the bill got caught in the politics leading to the 2019 elections and did not get the required attention from the House of Representatives,” he said.
He blamed the country’s leadership woes on politicians who assume office without a clear vision, often relying on “government scammers” who recycle the same proposals from one administration to another.
Saraki, who became Senate President in 2015 against the wishes of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) with backing from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had a strained relationship with the executive throughout his term.
His tenure saw several legal challenges, many of which were seen as politically motivated, especially after his defection to the PDP in 2018.
