Biography
One of the richest and most prominent politicians in Nigeria that you can imagine is Bukola Saraki, fully named Abubakar Olubukola Saraki.
He was a former governor of Kwara state between the years 2003 and 2011 after which he became the senate president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the year 2015.
Saraki was the first governor to receive an honour award of the Commander of the Order of Nigeria while serving as a governor. At the same time, other ex-governors received a similar award.
Saraki’s lineage
Although his lineage can be traced to Mali, he hails from Kwara State and was given birth on the 19th of December, 1962 to his parents, Florence Morenike Saraki (mother) and Olusola Abubakar Saraki (father), who was a medical doctor and a former Nigerian senator between 1979 and 1983.
Age [How old is Bukola Saraki?]
Despite looking quite young, he is going to be 60 years of age by the 19th of December, 2022.
Education
After being born in London, United Kingdom and a few years of stay, he started his primary education in Nigeria and had his secondary school education at King’s College in Lagos between 1973 and 1978 before relocating to London.
In London, he attended a public school known as Cheltenham College between 1979 and 1981 before finally proceeding to London Hospital Medical College of the University of London in 1982, where he bagged a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery in 1987 (MBBS).
Wife
Bukola Saraki got married to his beautiful wife, Toyin Saraki, who is a barrister of International Economic Law as well as the president and founder of Well-being Foundation Africa and a healthcare Nigerian philanthropist with over two decades of experience.
The duo got married together in December 1991.
Children
Bukola Saraki and Toyin Saraki are both blessed with four grown-up children, three daughters, and a son. The first daughter is Oluwatosin Saraki and she recently got married to her long-time spouse, Tunde Olukoya.
The second-born, who is a son, is Oluwaseni Saraki who is the chairperson of Abubakar Bukola Saraki Football Club and a graduate of the London School of Economics.
The last two daughters are twins namely Teniayo and Teniola Saraki.
Political Career
His political career commenced in the year 2000 after he was appointed a special assistant on budget issues to the then president of the federal republic of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo.
In 2003, he bought the ticket for the Kwara state gubernatorial election under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and eventually won. He also vied in for the 2007 election and was re-elected as the governor of Kwara State for a second term.
Having succeeded his sister, Gbemisola Saraki-Fowora, he represented the Kwara Central Senatorial District under the 7th National Assembly in 2011 and remained in that position under the 8th National Assembly in 2015.
However, he was elected as the Senate President in that same year and emerged as the 13th Senate president of Nigeria until 2019.
Presidential aspiration
Saraki in 2019 declared to run for the 2015 presidential election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He was defeated by Alhaji Atiku Abubabkar in the party’s primaries. Atiku was later defeated by Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 presidential general elections.
Again in 2022, Saraki declared to contest the 2023 presidential election but was defeated by Atiku once again.
Controversy
- Bukola Saraki was charged to court in September 2015 based on allegation of false declaration of assets while he was the governor of Kwara State.
- On another occasion, he was accused of continuous collection of salary after leaving the position of a governor, but the Kwara State government pointed out that he last collected a pension of N291,474 in May 2011.
- In August 2021, Saraki was arrested by the EFCC for allegedly using several proxy companies to launder money, when he was governor.
Disclaimer
The information in this article was curated from online sources. All details cannot be independently verified by NewsWireNGR or its editorial team.
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