3 Things Saraki says he'll do when he becomes president

On Wednesday, August 15, 2018, Senate President Bukola Saraki

Which explains why he’s paid visits to former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida in the last couple of weeks.

Here are 3 things Saraki says he’s going to do should next year:

1. Fuel importation will be private sector driven and the subsidy regime will be maintained

Fuel importation will continue in a Saraki presidency, but it will be a transparent process.

According to Saraki, “If we are going to have a subsidy, we should have a budget for it. Because once we have a budget for it, the private sector can also play a role in the importation of petroleum products.

“And if the private sector plays a role, definitely the cost of the subsidy will go down and there will be more efficiency in the delivery of products. But in the environment we are in today, where it’s only the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. that’s doing that, it’s going to be inefficient, it’s not going to be transparent.”

2. Saraki says he’ll be pro-business

This essentially means, should he become president, Saraki has pledged to allow the private sector drive the economy by providing a conducive environment for businesses to thrive.

Here’s how he put it for Bloomberg: “Most of the inflows that have come in are merely hot money, and that is because the oil price has gone up. Investment in the real sector is not seen.

“The private sector, in my view, has probably taken a position that the confidence is not there in the government. The country requires a government that is truly pro-business, and a president that sees himself as a chief marketing officer.”

3. The PDP and Saraki will fight corruption

In his discussions with leaders of his new party, PDP, Saraki said “we talked about how to sustain and improve the fight against corruption”.

Saraki left the governing APC for the opposition PDP on July 31, 2018. An enraged APC is currently pulling out all the stops to have him impeached as senate president.

Saraki was not the APC's choice for the position of senate president in 2015.