Bukola Saraki: The Kingmaker Reclaims the Chessboard

Bukola Saraki is once again a name people in Kwara are watching closely. Not as a declared candidate, but as a strategist whose next move could shape the state’s political direction. His record explains the attention. Saraki served two terms as Kwara governor between 2003 and 2011, launching the Shonga Farms initiative and founding Kwara State University and the International Aviation College. In 2015, he pulled off one of Nigerian politics’ boldest manoeuvres, allying with the opposition PDP to secure the Senate Presidency against his own party’s wishes. As Senate President until 2019, his chamber passed the Not-Too-Young-To-Run Act and the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, and published a full breakdown of the National Assembly’s budget for the first time. That period wasn’t without controversy. Saraki fought a lengthy asset declaration case before the Supreme Court cleared him in 2018. Then came the reversal. The 2019 “O To Ge” movement cost him his Senate seat and swept his political structure out of Kwara. For years, his influence in the state appeared diminished. Recent events suggest otherwise. In Offa, several APC members defected to the PDP, citing renewed confidence in Saraki’s leadership. The development has reopened conversations about whether his political network is stirring again ahead of 2027. Saraki no longer holds elective office, but his experience across the executive and legislative arms gives him a wide view of how power moves in Nigeria. That perspective, more than any current title, appears to be his main asset now Whether the Offa defections translate into a broader shift remains uncertain. Kwara’s politics have changed since Saraki’s dominant years, and the PDP will need more than his name to compete. Still, his re-emergence in political conversations signals that old networks in Kwara have not gone quiet, and Saraki appears to be testing how much of his old influence still holds.