Politics
Saraki To Youths: Don’t Bother Contesting 2023 Elections, It’s Too Late For You To Win
Former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has warned that Nigeria, because of its population, can pose a bigger problem to the United Kingdom than Afghanistan, in case of a political stability.
Saraki, former Kwara State governor, also told youths nursing the ambition to run in the 2023 presidential election to shelve the idea.
Speaking at an event in Abuja, he added that he would not even want any youth with a sound mind to contest for political offices at this point because they still possessed some good values which would be corrupted before they win any election.
He said, “You have to give up some good values that you have to be able to be competitive,” the former Kwara State Governor said at the weekend during an Independence lunch with diverse Nigerian youths in Abuja.
“It is too late to win election. I will be very honest with you. The System is too rigid against you. You are a young guy, you don’t have money or network where are you going to start from?
“I don’t even want you to [contest] because you still have some good values. I don’t want you to be corrupted because for you to win you have to give up some good values that you have to be able to be competitive.
“I think the target now should be how to mobilise a similar mind to hold their voters card and vote. If that is the kind of voters, then the result will hold. I promise, if those are not the kind of voters, then everyone will try to manipulate the result.
“Until those of you that matter take it upon yourself and ask what kind of Governor, president, Senator you want, nothing can change.
“When you get the right kind of Governor and he knows you have the power to vote him out, you will have the chance to come into government because you would have built a pact.
“The point now is, politician don’t believe you can vote them out. If they believe you can vote them out, they will do the right things. Their own view is 9 months to election they will share the money and win election. If they know the vote is not about sharing money they will perform well.
“End SARS did not fail, it showed that the youth can participate and the best form of participation is through voting. I think the world is tired of the problem and dangers Nigeria could create. There are six million Nigerians that have the right to be in the UK.
“If Afghanistan was a problem then Nigeria is a bigger problem for the UK. Even for self-interest, it is in the best interest for UK to work because of the exodus that will go into those places if it doesn’t.
“The world is with us but we must put in place good governance and the right kind of voters that can do that are people like yourself. Not those who want N5000. If the guy that wants N5000 is more than you, then Nigeria is not going to change and we won’t have the right kind of leaders.”
Delegates from Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba, and Yobe states were in attendance, as key highlights included speeches by Governors Mai Mala Buni (Yobe), Babagana Zulum (Borno), and Inuwa Yahaya (Gombe), who all praised President Bola Tinubu’s leadership, particularly commending him for supporting a northerner’s eight-year presidency.
The three governors collectively endorsed Tinubu for a second term, urging the north to return the favour in 2027.
However, tensions escalated shortly after APC North-East Vice Chairman, Mustapha Salihu, ended his speech by naming Tinubu as the sole candidate for the next election, without mentioning Vice President Kashim Shettima.
This apparent omission triggered protests from some members, who insisted that the vice president be included in the endorsement.
An attempt by Zulum to calm the situation did little to ease the rising tempers. The commotion intensified until security operatives intervened to restore order.
The party’s National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, later addressed the crowd, separately praising both Tinubu and Shettima, which helped ease the tension.
On May 22, 2025, 22 APC governors unanimously adopted Tinubu as the APC candidate for the 2027 election. The governors also did not mention the vice president during the endorsement.
But Borno South Senator, Ali Ndume, distanced himself from the endorsement of Tinubu for a second term in office.
He said he pitied Tinubu. According to him, former President Goodluck Jonathan secured the endorsement of 22 governors of his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the 2015 poll, yet he lost his re-election bid to Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Osinbajo said due to the lack of preparation of leaders, politics has acquired a bad name in Nigeria.
He spoke at the 2nd Annual Daniel Taiwo Odukoya Memorial Lecture, held at The Fountain of Life Church in Lagos.
Osinbajo, however, noted that despite the disillusion, politics remained the pathway to leadership and influence.
He urged Nigerian youths to actively engage in politics as a vital tool for shaping the country’s leadership and bring about a lasting transformation.
“Politics has acquired a bad name, not just in Nigeria, but across the world. But the truth is, there is no other way to influence a nation except by engaging in the political process.
“If we are not involved in choosing leaders, shaping policy, or participating in political parties, then we forfeit our right to complain when outcomes don’t reflect our values.
“Many people go into politics with nothing, no plan, no knowledge, and end up achieving nothing. Leadership demands more.
“Nigeria’s transformation requires principled, informed, and active participation in the political space.
“This nation is not beyond redemption. But change will only come when citizens, especially those with moral conviction and vision, step forward to lead,” the ex-VP said.
“If the parliament is on part-time, then it means democracy is on part-time,” he said on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme. “There is no democracy that derides its parliament and thrives.”
He argued that the parliament is the bastion and fulcrum of democracy and no level of cost-cutting should affect the allocations that go to lawmakers.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker representing Ekiti South Senatorial District said beyond law-making and oversight functions on the executive, the 109 Senators in the Senate and the 360 members of the House of Representatives shoulder the responsibilities of their constituents.
He said, “The Nigerian parliament is not only for lawmaking; we do oversight function. We advocate for our constituents.
“It will just be bewildering that even out of the three arms of government that we have in Nigeria, it is only the parliament and parliamentarians that our people have access to. Like me and others.
“We go home almost every time and we are the ones when they give birth to a new baby, they ask for naming ceremony funds. When they are building a new house, it is from us they ask for assistance.
“So, if the parliament was not there, who do you expect that our constituents would run to? The parliament is not just to sit down at the plenary and make laws alone. And when we make laws, we follow it up.”
The Senate spokesman said the National Assembly is the soft target of every critic but vehemently opposed the reduction of the money paid to lawmakers.
“If we are on part-time, can’t the same amount of money be paid to part-time legislators?” he asked.
“We are in Abuja, is it the National Assembly that is giving us housing? Is it the National Assembly that is employing domestic staff for us? We are here on our own.
“We don’t get allowances for drivers. The allowances we get from housing are always deducted from our salaries. They give it once in four years and they deduct it every month.”
He also said the official vehicles lawmakers get weren’t registered in their names and weren’t for them. He, however, did not clarify whether lawmakers inherit the vehicles after their tenure.
In the past, controversy has enveloped the monthly earnings of federal lawmakers. In August 2024, Shehu Sani, who represented Kaduna Central in the 8th Senate, said he got ₦13 million as Senator while current members of the 10th Senate receive ₦21 million monthly. The upper chamber of the National Assembly immediately disproved the claim.
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