Senate President, Bukola Saraki reveals what you NEVER knew about the senate (Read)

I wouldn’t say I underestimated what is happening, I expected the challenges when you are trying to make a change. This is more on the legislative angle. That is where the change is because Nigerians have been used to the executive and the judiciary. The youngest of the three arms is the legislature. The one that people don’t understand the most is the legislature. The one people cannot see how it connects to their daily life is the legislature.

An average man or woman in Nigeria knows how the executive affects his or her life. When a minister makes an announcement that we have now raised the duty on car importation or the exchange rate has gone up to this and that , they know what that means. It is so for the judiciary. They know that this judge can rule for or against if they have a case. They do not understand what the lawmakers are doing. That makes our work more challenging. I am very hopeful that by the time we are done, we will be able to change this perception.

Is this the Senate you had in mind when you vied for the presidency? Can it propel Nigeria to the destination the people are aspiring?

I very much believe so. I was in the 7th Senate for four years; I followed the activities of the National Assembly. I believe that where we are now, the groups of senators we have are focused, patriotic and they are committed to solving Nigeria’s problems. They are patriotic because this is the first time we have a Senate that is much divided, the majority is very slim. You can’t really compare it to the previous Senate. You have a Senate with this slim majority, everyday should be chaotic, and the senators should be up in arms.

But in the last one year, anytime we discussed national issues, issues that have to do with the economy, senators have jettisoned their political leanings and have presented themselves as senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Right from the time we screened ministers, looked at budget, they acted like senators of Federal Republic of Nigeria and not that of APC or PDP.