Femi Adesina: How Buhari reacted when Saraki, Dogara became n’assembly leaders

Femi Adesina, former media aide to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, says his principal was not happy when Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara became leaders of the national assembly in 2015.

Adesina, in his book “Working with Buhari: Reflections Of A Special Adviser, Media And Publicity (2015 – 2023)”, narrated how Buhari reacted when Saraki and Dogara were elected as the senate president and speaker of the house of representatives, respectively.

He said the former president returned to Nigeria on June 9, 2015, after attending a meeting of G7 countries in Germany.

According to Adesina, the election of the leadership of the 8th assembly was fixed for that day, adding that Buhari was scheduled to hold a meeting with lawmakers of the All Progressives Congress (APC) by 10 a.m. before the election.

“Unknown to the party leadership, Senator Bukola Saraki, a former Kwara State Governor, and Hon. Yakubu Dogara, from Bauchi State, had plotted to seize the leadership of the National Assembly,” Adesina wrote in his book.

“To get the necessary figures, Saraki was in league with the PDP, his former party, as a significant number of APC senators were not with him.

“We were in the President’s living room at Aso Drive, preparatory to driving to the International Conference Centre (ICC) for the meeting with APC legislators, when we saw on television that the Senate had already been convened, and election was in progress.

“The requisite constitutionally required number had been made up by renegade APC members, and the PDP.

“Before we knew it, the Clerk was swearing in Saraki as Senate President. One after the other, APC leaders began to congregate in the living room of the President. Chief Bisi Akande, the first Interim National Chairman was there.

“Chief John Odigie Oyegun, former Edo State Governor and incumbent National Chairman was there, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former Lagos State Governor and National Leader of the party came in, National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, many loyal lawmakers, and others were also there, along with the President.

“With Saraki having been sworn in, and Ike Ekweremadu, a PDP senator, inaugurated as his deputy, it was Asiwaju Tinubu who said there was no need crying over spilt milk, and that they should see what they could do to ensure that the leadership of the House of Representatives did not also slip out of their hands.

“They mapped out strategies, gave responsibilities, and it was action stations. They filed out, and only a few people, and we the aides, remained with the President, who was obviously unhappy with the perfidy playing out.

“But it was too little and too late. Yakubu Dogara had emerged, with Yusuf Sulaimon Lasun, a lawmaker from Osun State, also APC, as his deputy.”

‘I WON’T SAY ANYTHING’

Adesina said when he approached Buhari to convince him to state his position in a press statement on the national assembly leadership election, the former president’s response was “I won’t say anything”.

“I knew I had a huge task on my hands: convincing the President to congratulate those who won. There were two reasons. He was on record to have said he would work with anyone who emerged as the leader, and secondly, the process was constitutional, as the party’s desire,” Adesina said.

“I went to meet the President. Remember he had told me to argue with him whenever necessary. I was buoyed by that.

“I stated my case on why we needed to issue a statement on the new National Assembly leadership, and that the whole country would be waiting for his position.

“Waving his index finger (I could not but help noticing how long the finger was), he said he would not say a word.

“I said he should, reminding him he had promised to work with whoever emerged, and that political adversaries would term him dictatorial, if he did not say anything.

“And he should not forget that the process was constitutional. He gave it a thought. He told me to draft a statement and let him see.

“Carefully choosing my words, I wrote that President Buhari had noted what happened at the National Assembly earlier in the day, and though contrary to the position of the APC, a constitutional process had been concluded, and he would work with the elected leadership.

“He read it through and took a pen from his breast pocket. Where I wrote that a constitutional process had been concluded, he inserted the word ‘somewhat.’ It now read; “constitutional process has been somewhat concluded.”

“He directed that the statement be issued.”

Adesina further said the national assembly leadership saga was his first baptism of fire in terms of issuing statements for Buhari, adding that many more followed for a period of eight years.