SaharaReporters has obtained exclusive copies of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) nomination forms by which Senate President Bukola Saraki ran for the National Assembly election, and they unveil a pattern of lies, evasion and misrepresentation of facts on questions about his nationality and identity.
The documents come weeks after SaharaReporters provided evidence showing that Mr. Saraki is a citizen of the United Kingdom.
For instance, under “Personal particulars of persons seeking election,” the man who would become Senate President declared his nationality to be “Nigerian.” However, when answering the question, “Did you change your nationality in the past?” he indicated “NIL” or no.
As first exposed by SaharaReporters, Mr. Saraki’s passport clearly indicates that he holds citizenship of United Kingdom. Perhaps on account of this, Mr. Saraki left blank Question 10, on whether the prospective candidate has “made a declaration of allegiance to any other country.”
Mr. Saraki’s answers to these questions indicate that he is concealing the fact that he is a bonafide citizen of the United Kingdom. Knowing that it would hurt his political ambitions, he deliberately concealed the fact that he has changed the profile of his nationality in the past.
On the forms, Mr. Saraki also completely evaded question 12, which asked the candidate to specify his place of birth. Rather than declare his place of birth to be Hampstead North, of the Metropolitan Bourough of Hampstead in the United Kingdom, Mr. Saraki craftily repeated his date of birth: 19-12-1962. For some reason, INEC did not invalidate the form as it should have.
On the question of the circumstances of his birth, Mr. Saraki has also played fast and loose with the facts. SaharaReporters has obtained a copy of his birth certificate, which proves that he was born on December 19, 1962 as Olubukola Adebisi Olabowale Saraki but curiously Mr. Saraki’s birth was not registered until a year later in 1963. This is contrary to his name on his INEC documents, which he wrote as Abubakar Bukola Saraki. Our sources who have knowledge of the story say he gave himself this version in an effort to appeal to northern voters in Kwara State.
SaharaReporters contacted Mr. Saraki and his aides to offer an opportunity to them to explain the systemic evasion and misrepresentation of his nationality and citizenship in his election documents, contrary to the law. Nobody appeared willing to provide any explanation as to the discrepancies in his official records and claims as listed in this and previous SaharaReporters stories.
