Former Senate President Bukola Saraki has attributed the current weakness of Nigeria’s National Assembly to widespread public indifference and sustained executive interference during his tenure.
Speaking on Saturday at the 2025 Reunion Gala of the King’s College Old Boys Association (KCOBA) in Houston, Texas, Saraki—who served as Senate President from 2015 to 2019—reflected on his experience leading the legislature and the challenges he faced.
“The legislature is an institution created to make laws, oversee the executive, and represent the people,” Saraki emphasized. “A legislative leader must have character. He must be bold to speak truth to power.”
He lamented that Nigerians failed to defend him when he was under attack, which, according to him, discouraged his successors from standing up to the executive branch. Saraki said this shift has turned the National Assembly into a “rubber stamp.”
“I could have agreed with everything the Presidency under Buhari wanted and cut deals all the way. I would have been seen as a good ally,” he revealed. “But I chose to ask questions, especially about the loans the executive sought. That made us a target.”
Saraki added that the executive frustrated meaningful legislative reforms during his tenure, especially those caught in the 2019 political crossfire. “We were like orphans. The elite and ordinary people kept quiet,” he said.
He argued that the silence of the public and political class during those years enabled weak leadership and eroded democratic institutions.
“This is a big failure of followership,” Saraki concluded. “Instead of building institutions, we are building strong men and women.”
