Femi Adesina Recounts Buhari’s Reaction After Saraki, Dogara’s ‘Tricky’ Emergence As NASS Leaders

• The truth about how Senator Bukola Saraki became the Senate leader in 2015 has been revealed in Femi Adesina's book
• The former presidential aide recounted how the former Kwara State governor orchestrated the plot with his former party
• He also revealed how then-President Muhammadu Buhari reacted to Senator Saraki's well-planned plot

Legit.ng journalist Segun Adeyemi has over 9 years of experience covering political events, civil societies, courts, and metro

FCT, Abuja - Femi Adesina, the former media aide to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, revealed in his book "Working with Buhari: Reflections Of A Special Adviser, Media And Publicity (2015 – 2023)" that Buhari expressed displeasure when Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara emerged as leaders of the National Assembly in 2015.

Adesina detailed how Buhari reacted upon his return to Nigeria on June 9, 2015, after attending the G7 countries meeting in Germany.

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The elections for the leadership of the 8th assembly were scheduled for that day, and Buhari had a planned meeting with All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers at 10 a.m. before the elections took place.

In the book, Adesina pointed out that without the party leadership's knowledge, Senator Bukola Saraki, a former Governor of Kwara State, and Hon. Yakubu Dogara from Bauchi State had schemed to take control of the National Assembly.

Adesina mentioned that Saraki collaborated with the PDP, his previous political party, to secure the required support since many APC senators did not align with him.

As quoted from the book by The Cable, Adesina said:

“We were in the President’s living room at Aso Drive, preparatory to driving to the International Conference Centre (ICC) for the meeting with APC legislators, when we saw on television that the Senate had already been convened, and election was in progress.

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“The requisite constitutionally required number had been made up by renegade APC members, and the PDP.

“Before we knew it, the Clerk was swearing in Saraki as Senate President. One after the other, APC leaders began to congregate in the living room of the President. Chief Bisi Akande, the first Interim National Chairman was there."

Adesina noted that top APC chieftains like Chief John Odigie Oyegun, former Edo State Governor and incumbent National Chairman, were there, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former Lagos State Governor and National Leader of the party came in, National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, many loyal lawmakers, and others were also there, along with the President.

Following Saraki's inauguration and the appointment of Ike Ekweremadu, a PDP senator, as his deputy, Asiwaju Tinubu expressed the view that there was no use lamenting the situation.

Instead, he suggested preventing a similar loss of control in the House of Representatives. Tinubu outlined strategies, assigned tasks, and initiated action.

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As they moved forward, only a handful of individuals, including the aides, stayed with the President, who disapproved of the unfolding betrayal.

The former President's spokesperson in his books said:

“But it was too little and too late. Yakubu Dogara had emerged, with Yusuf Sulaimon Lasun, a lawmaker from Osun State, also APC, as his deputy.”

Buhari's reaction to National Assembly coup

Adesina recounted that, upon urging Buhari to express his stance in a press release regarding the national assembly leadership election, the ex-president replied, “I won’t say anything”.

Adesina said:

“I knew I had a huge task on my hands: convincing the President to congratulate those who won.

"There were two reasons. He was on record to have said he would work with anyone who emerged as the leader, and secondly, the process was constitutional, as the party’s desire.”

Femi Adesina finally discloses identity of “wailing wailers”

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In another report, Femi Adesina explained why he rechristened some Nigerians "wailing wailers.''

Adesina said the sobriquet fitted the critics because they tried to distract the government as much as possible.

The former government official disclosed that he was referring to the PDP, particularly the party's former chieftain, Olisa Metuh.

Source: Legit.ng