What Saraki’s visit to Obasanjo tells us about his presidential ambition

If you had any doubts about Senate President Bukola Saraki setting out his stall rather nicely for a presidential run,

Saraki’s ruthless ambition has always been the hallmark of the man. I have dwelt on this trait of his in earlier piecesHe is ever scheming, calculating and plotting. It’s how he became the 3rd most powerful man in Nigeria and he’s not about to change with Aso Rock now within touching distance.

I watched Saraki throw off a battery of reporters when asked why he had come to see Obasanjo, as he made to saunter into his car at the parking lot of the library. You could tell he had rehearsed whatever it was he was going to say to the press, well ahead of time. It is the way Saraki works.

“You know, I missed the official opening of the library and that is why I have decided to come and see the place and, honestly, it is beautiful. We are very proud of what he has done here”, Saraki said with a straight face and without flinching.

Of course everyone knows Saraki wasn’t at the Obasanjo Presidential Library (OPL) to congratulate the former president for the sprawling edifice. The Obasanjo library was commissioned in March of 2017If Bukola Saraki wanted to go see and admire it, he could have done so a long time ago. Saraki didn’t have to wait till he has dumped the APC for the PDP, he didn’t have to wait till he had thrown the senate into a crisis with his and other defections, he didn’t have to wait until moves before going to see the library.

To become president of Nigeria these days, you have to consult three of the men who ‘own Nigeria’, in a manner of speaking. Saraki has gone to see IBB and Obasanjo. He has remained characteristically coy afterwards. Expect another scheduled meeting with Abdulsalami Abubakar in a couple of days. These men are the kingmakers who sit in their hilltop mansions to cherry-pick Nigerian presidents. And it also helps Saraki that he shares a ‘common enemy’ with at least two of the kingmakers.

Obasanjo has had a say in who becomes Nigeria's president since he left the throne in 2007. And he still fancies himself a kingmaker of note. Saraki is well aware of this.

Essentially, Saraki won’t fight too hard about retaining the senate presidency throne. If push comes to a shove, he will let the APC have their thing because he’s got his sights firmly set on bigger things like becoming President of Nigeria.

Hey, it’s Saraki we are talking about here. Don't even hate.