According to Baraje, “Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has been trying his luck on being the president of this country since 2011. He withdrew for the then candidate Goodluck Jonathan. In 2015, he also withdrew for the present President Muhammadu Buhari. So for somebody who has been nursing that kind of ambition, is it not right for such person to come forward again?"
Alhaji Abubakar Baraje, leader of the Reformed All Progressives Congress (R-APC), has expressed his support for the presidential ambition of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, should the latter officially declare.
Addressing journalists at the graduation ceremony of the Baraje Centre for Arabic and Islamic Studies in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, he expressed his intention to officially defect to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in “a few days".
According to him, Saraki had nursed presidential ambitions in the past, particularly in 2011 and 2015, but had to step down for the candidature of former President Goodluck Jonathan and President Muhammadu Buhari, respectively.
His words: “Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has been trying his luck on being the President of this country since 2011. He withdrew for the then candidate Goodluck Jonathan. In 2015, he also withdrew for the present President Muhammadu Buhari. So for somebody who has been nursing that kind of ambition, is it not right for such person to come forward again?
“This present President came forward four times before clinching it. Did anybody ask whether he was right or wrong? Totally, I am in his support. Whatever Nigeria is looking for is in him and what we are looking for is only a candidate that will unite Nigeria, because with the current situation in the country, Nigeria is further divided and unless we get a candidate that will unite Nigeria, it is going to be a very serious jeopardy for this country.
“He has the right. The fact that he is the Senate President does not stop him from aspiring to become the president. Constitutionally, of course, I have not seen that a Senate President cannot aspire to become president. Being one of the strong supporters of the Senate President, this is the time I will show the entire world that I am solidly behind him. We have been supporting others, this is the time to support our own.”