How the Saraki and Abdulrazak families became enemies in Kwara

Before Oloye retired from active politics, his children, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki and Ms Gbemisola Ruqayyah Saraki had already established themselves as frontline politicians in the state.

After Oloye, who was once a senate leader, died in November 2012, his son, Bukola assumed the position of a political godfather and kingmaker his father was in the state.

He called the shots and attained a position his father could not in politics. He became the Senate President and also had a whole state government at his disposal. He was the VIP of Kwara politics until 2019 when the wave of O to ge (enough is enough) campaign hit him like a storm and stripped him of the political power he wielded.

Dr Bukola Saraki was the President of Nigeria Senate between 2015 and 2019. (Punch) ece-auto-gen

Saraki did not only lose his position in the Nigerian Senate, but the O to ge campaign also brought down his allies from their political positions in Kwara state, while his arch-rival, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq became the state governor on the platform of the All Progressives Congress.

People who are familiar with Kwara politics believe that there’s a serious rivalry between the Sarakis and the Abdulrazaqs, but the grudges the two families nurse against each other were never so pronounced until Abdulrazaq became the governor of the state in May 2019.

Seven months into Abdulrahman’s administration, the state government demolished Dr Olusola Saraki’s political home popularly known as Ile-Arugbo.

Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq (News247) Pulse Nigeria

While explaining its reasons for pulling down what many Kwarans see as one of Late Olusola Saraki’s legacies, the governor in a statement said the property was illegally acquired, adding that there was no evidence of payment for the land.

The state government also argued that the property was originally meant for the construction of a secretariat and the parking lot of the civil service clinic.

Ile Arugbo which literally translates to a home for the aged, was Oloye’s political base, where he used to dish out money and gift items to old women in the state. It was a Mecca of some sorts for the aged, who regularly thronged the site to receive their gifts and money from the politician when he was alive.

Bukola Saraki's political home known as Ile Arugbo has been demolished by Kwara Stte government. (Legit) Pulse Nigeria

Before Oloye died, he was said to have instructed his children to continue his philanthropic tradition at Ile-Arugbo. And when he died in 2012, Bukola Saraki stepped in his father’s shoes to sustain the tradition, helping the aged and giving their children scholarships.

But in the early hours of Thursday, January 2, 2020, the government of Kwara State stormed the site with bulldozers and pulled down the Sarakis’ home for the aged. With the supervision of the police, the tradition and the legacy Oloye asked his children to sustain was reduced to rubble.

As expected, Dr Bukola Saraki and his siblings, Gbemisola and Oyinkansola vehemently condemned the demolition of their father’s political home. In their statements, they all made it known to the world that the demolition was an act of vengeance by Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq for himself and his family.

Gbemisola Saraki is currently the Minister for State for Transportation. (Punch) Pulse Nigeria

There’s no doubt that there’s a political score to settle between the two politically prominent families in Kwara state. But in a bid to unearth the cause and the depth of their rivalry, Pulse took a look into how the two families established themselves in the politics of Kwara state and what went wrong between their patriarchs.

Once upon a time in Abidjan

In the 50s, Alhaji Abdulganiy Abdulrazaq Folohunsho, the first lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) from the northern part of the country, emerged as a prominent politician in Kwara State. He is arguably the foremost political figure to reckon with in Kwara even before the state was created in 1967.

Alhaji Abdulganiy Abdulrazak Folohunsho is the father of the current governor of Kwara State (Vanguard) Pulse Nigeria

Abdulganiy’s political hegemony was acknowledged by the federal government. This recognition contributed to his career and achievements, as he was appointed Nigeria’s Ambassador to Ivory Coast in 1962.

In 1965, he became a Federal Minister of State for Railways after which he was appointed as a member of the House of Representatives in 1966 as a nominee.

However, the political path of Abdulganiy did not cross with the Sarakis until October 1962, when he resumed office in Abidjan as Nigeria’s Ambassador to Ivory Coast.

In an interview he granted TheNews magazine in 2010, Abdulganiy said that one of the Nigerians who welcomed him in Abidjan was one Alhaji Muttahiru Saraki, who later introduced his son, who was studying medicine in England, to him. The medical student would later grow to be known as Oloye Olusola Saraki.

Dr Olusola Saraki studied medicine in England before he joined politics in the 70s in Kwara State (ThisDay) Pulse Nigeria

In the interview, Abdulganiy said, “One Sunday during the summer holidays, Alhaji Saraki brought Sola to introduce him to me. And after they took their seats, Alhaji Saraki started talking by saying ‘Sir’. I asked him to cut that out because he was as old as my father. He then reminded me about his son he said was in London. I stood up to greet Sola and he stretched out his hand for a handshake… That was how I met Sola Saraki. And I told him that it was good that as a young man, he is a professional. I advised him to return home to participate in politics. I am talking of 1963.

“When I then went back to campaign in 1964, to go to parliament, with a view to be appointed a minister, Sola surfaced. That was two weeks to the election. He told me that he had decided to heed the advice I gave him in Abidjan to go into politics.”

In a bid to announce himself in the politics of Kwara, Saraki joined Abdulganiy in the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) to contest for a political position, but the party decided to return its candidates.

According to Yusuf Olaniyonu, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Dr Bukola Saraki, the former President of the Nigeria Senate, Olusola Saraki left the party to contest as an independent candidate.

“Oloye’s first political outing was 1964 general elections, they (Oloye and Abdulganiy) were both in NPC then. He wanted to run because he was a young medical doctor then but the NPC at that time decided that they didn’t want primary again, they wanted all their candidates to return. He later left the NPC and went around as an independent candidate. As a young man, he lost,” he said.

Kwara state shares boundary with five states (Guardian) Pulse Nigeria

Since then, the patriarchs throughout their political careers have remained on the opposing side of each other.

The beginning of an unending fight

The political rivalry between the Sarakis and the Abdulrazaks started in 1979 when their patriarchs tested their popularity and political powers against each other for the first time.

Relying on Abdulganiy’s reputation and popularity, Great Nigeria’s People Party (GNPP) presented him as its governorship candidate in the 1979 gubernatorial election, while Saraki decided to support and sponsor Adamu Attah.

At the end of their first political battle, Saraki’s candidate defeated Abdulganiy to become the first democratically elected governor in Kwara state.

Attah’s victory over Abdulganiy proved to be a paradigm shift in the grand scheme of things in Kwara politics. Saraki became the force to reckon with after repeatedly defeating the state’s pioneer politician and consequently seized the political structure from him.

Dr Olusola Saraki controlled the politics of Kwara State for decades. (Daily Post) Pulse Nigeria

In a telephone chat with Pulse, Olaniyonu said the rivalry between the Sarakis and the Abdulrazaqs could possibly have been provoked by the many defeats the latter suffered in the hand of the former.

Recalling the series of political battles between the patriarchs, Olaniyonu said, “In 1979, Abdulganiy was the governorship candidate for GNPP in Kwara and Adamu Attah, who was sponsored by Dr Olusola Saraki, defeated him.

“In 1992, when Alhaji Sha'aba Lafiagi sponsored by Saraki became governor of the state, his son, Dr Alimi AbdulRazaq was an aspirant on the SDP platform, but Saraki’s candidate got the ticket. If we also look at 1999, Alimi again was the governorship candidate of PDP, while Lawal supported by Saraki, won.

Senator Sha'aba Lafiagi was elected governor of Kwara State in 1992 (High Profile) Pulse Nigeria

“In 2003, when Dr Bukola Saraki became governor, Abdulganiy’s son, Abdulrahman (the incumbent governor) was in PDP seeking to become the state’s governor, but the Sarakis came from ANPP and Obasanjo handed over the structure to them because he knew they are the ones who could deliver the state to him. Once the Sarakis came in, they took over the structure and that’s how Dr Bukola Saraki became the governorship candidate of the PDP and he won.

“In 2011, Abdulrahman was the governorship candidate of CPC and Abdulfatah Ahmed sponsored by Bukola Saraki defeated him. In 2015, Abdulrahman contested as a senatorial candidate against Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki. He lost again. So, it’s been like that between the two families”.

Apart from politics, a number of other factors are allegedly responsible for the rivalry between the Sarakis and the Abdulrazaqs.

Emirate’s dimension to the rivalry

Like every other part of the country, chieftaincy titles in Kwara are regarded as a mark of status and affluence. The higher the rank of an individual, the more respect he or she commands.

For the Sarakis, the Emirate tends to favour them with titles that elevate their status and social ranks above the Abdulrazaks in Kwara state. According to Olaniyonu, the rivalry could also have been accentuated by the higher positions the Sarakis hold in the Ilorin Emirate.

The Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari has spent over 20 years on the throne (Vanguard) Pulse Nigeria

“Abdulganiy is older than Oloye, but the Late Olusola Saraki held a higher title than him. He moved from Turaki to become Waziri, which is the third in rank to the Emir; and when Oloye died, they gave the title to Bukola Saraki. They elevated him. For many years, his father was Turaki of Ilorin and after Bukola became governor, they moved his father up to Waziri and gave him Turaki and when his father died, they promoted him to Waziri. In the Emirate now, he’s a senior to Abdulganiy, the state governor’s father.”

However, it is noteworthy that the Waziri title was vacant for almost six years before it was conferred on Dr Bukola Saraki. His father, who was the previous holder of the title died in 2012, and the Emirate didn’t confer the title on Saraki until July 2018, when he was the President of the Nigerian Senate. Giving Saraki the title was ostensibly informed by his political exploits and the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, confirmed this.

The Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari blessing Dr Bukola Saraki when he was named 4th Waziri of Ilorin (Vanguard) Pulse Nigeria

While conferring the title on him, the Emir of Ilorin said, “We are excited by your political exploits because of late you have become the beautiful bride whom politicians across the board are beckoning to be in their camps. This is a show of recognition of your worth and achievements as a politician.”

According to Olaniyonu, a number of other factors such as the political attainment and achievements with regards to the age difference between the patriarchs and the prosperity of the Saraki family in Kwara, could also have provoked the rivalry.

He said, “Abdulganiy is the first SAN from the North. Since his early 20s, he has been occupying political positions. In the first republic, he was an Ambassador to Ivory Coast, that time Baba Oloye was still a medical student. Later, he became a minister shortly.

“When the military administration led by General Yakubu Gowon started, he became commissioner for finance in the state. He was older and had been occupying the position before Baba Oloye. But because of the politics Oloye played by helping everybody and giving scholarships to people, feeding old women and providing water for them when their community had no pipe-borne water, he took over the politics of the state in 1978”.

Again, each time Abdulganiy and his children, Alimi and Abdulrahman, tested their popularity at the poll, the political dominance of Olusola Saraki got stronger as the politician moved from supporting candidates to presenting his children for political positions in the state.

Governor AbdulRahman Abdulrazaq's father is the first lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) from the north (TheSun) Pulse Nigeria

Reeling out the political attainment of Saraki’s children, Olaniyonu said, “At one point, Oloye’s son was a governor, the other was a senator. Gbemisola was a senator for eight years. She was also in the House of Representatives for four years, that makes it 12 years in the National Assembly. She was in the House of Reps from 1999 to 2003 and in the Senate from 2003 to 2011. The man, Bukola, was an Executive Director of a bank before he became the state governor for eight years, Senator for four years and Senate President for another four years.”

Fortunately for Abdulganiy, after testing his political strength against the Sarakis for decades, one of his sons, Abdulrahman, finally won the hearts of the electorate in 2019 and became state governor, following the Ot’oge campaign that dislodged Dr Bukola Saraki and his allies from political power at state and federal levels.

Kwara State Government reacts

Since it’s not a secret that the Sarakis and the Abdulrazaks have been at loggerheads for years, Pulse reached out to the Kwara state government for Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq’s side of the story, but Abdulrafiu Ajakaye, the Chief Press Secretary to the State Government, said the governor has more important issues to tackle than to attend to claims about the political achievements of a family in the state.

Abdurahman Abdulrazaq became the governor of Kwara State through the O to ge campaign after trying for many years. (Premium Times) Pulse Nigeria

“I have looked at those claims but it’s not appropriate for me as a spokesperson to the governor to respond to innuendos. It is like I’m helping them to dignify things that should not even be elevated in public debate when there are issues of governance. I don’t think it is right for me to do that and that’s why I deliberately refused to respond to those claims. We have more developmental issues to tackle in Kwara state than to start addressing claims about how one family is bigger than the other. These issues have nothing to do with our hospitals and roads. As a country, we have bigger issues, we can’t be dealing with things like this”, Ajakaye said.

On the demolition of Saraki’s political home, Ajakaye maintained that the state government has restricted itself to the issues of law without necessarily dragging any family issue into it.

He said, “If you have followed our debates on the demolition of Ile Arugbo, we have restricted ourselves to the issues of law. Was the property legally acquired? Those are the issues that we are dealing with, not the issue of one family is bigger than the other. That is not the path we want to travel”.