Deconstructing Kperogi’s false claims on Oloye, by Toyin Sanusi

Professor Farouk Kperogi, on his blog, Notes from Atlanta, published on January 26, 2026, did a comparison of the fallout between the Governor of Kano State and his godfather, Dr Rabiu Musa Kwakwanso, on one side, and the experiences of late Dr Olusola Saraki as the dominant force in Kwara State from 1978 till he died in 2012.

In that article, Prof. Kperogi, as usual, did not leave out his bias against Saraki. He never lets any opportunity to malign Saraki pass him by. By the way, his late father was once a key supporter of the late Saraki. There was also a rupture in their political relationship when he supported then-Governor Adamu Attah against the governor’s leader and godfather. Both men followed different paths in the 1983 polls, and Oloye’s structure prevailed. So, sometimes when I read Kperogi’s articles on either late Saraki or his son, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki, I see the continuation of the political rift of the old times masked in many of the analyses or phrases dished out.

In this last article, there were blatant misrepresentations and pretensions. While Kperogi claimed Oloye “confided in him”, he obviously displayed a crass ignorance of the senior Saraki and his politics. As a person who served as Private Principal Secretary to Oloye for more than seven years, I was aware of all his meetings and knew almost everybody who came to see him. I was a witness to most of his story. So nobody can engage in revisionism by rewriting the story of this great man.

Oloye’s plan towards 2003 was to get Mohammed Lawal out of office as governor. Oloye believed Lawal failed to provide good governance to the people. He felt the governor chose to ignore party supporters and to rubbish the political structure that allowed him to be elected Governor.

To vote Lawal out of power, Oloye was determined to contest the governorship himself. He promised to resign after two years in office. The other leaders in his political structure believed he did not have to do that to defeat Lawal. The elders proposed that the younger Saraki be fielded as the candidate who would contest against Lawal. When they approached Oloye with the idea, he felt they would meet a brick wall with Dr Bukola Saraki, since the younger man had actually rebuffed suggestions and attempts to get him to run for elective office.

Eventually, the leaders of the Saraki political group convinced the younger Saraki to contest, preventing a situation in which Oloye would step down from seeking the presidency to run for the governorship. Kperogi should not give the wrong impression that the younger Saraki desperately wanted to be governor or that his father was compelled to give him the slot. Unlike in other strong political structures, Oloye was not imposing decisions on the group. Almost all decisions must have the buy-in of other group leaders, including Prof. Albert Ogunsola, Alhaji Adamu Ndakene, Alhaji Akanbi Oke, Alhaji Hamidu Alarape, Alhaji Oba Bolanta, Alhaji Kola Yusuf, and Alhaji Shaba Lafiagi. That is why I am surprised that Kperogi is also listing Alhaji Shaba Lafiagi as another of those governors with whom Oloye had a crack in their relationship.

As far back as 1997, the younger Saraki had been offered the consensus ticket for the House of Representatives on the platform of the Congress for National Consensus (CNC), one of the five political parties in the Abacha transition. He rejected the offer. Kperogi is aware of this, but he remained silent about it in his write-up because it did not fit his narrative.

It may interest Kperogi that it was the same leadership of the structure and their sympathisers in the religious sector, the Islamic clerics, that staunchly opposed the idea of a woman becoming governor. There was also talk of the overstretching of luck and political strength, as well as the morality of a sister replacing a brother in the gubernatorial seat of a state. So, it was not Dr. Bukola Saraki who “obstructed” or “stop(pped) Oloye from “anointing” a governor”. Public opinion was not in favour of the decision that some sycophants had goaded Oloye into taking.

If Kperogi cares to know, it should be evident to him that on no issue did the senior and younger Saraki disagree before and after the governorship issue. After the election, both father and son also reconciled their differences. Bukola Saraki’s successor, Abdulfatai Ahmed, was eventually endorsed by Oloye after the election passion had settled. Those who should know about this fact are aware of it.

Thus, Oloye did not die “a sad man”. The strongman of Kwara politics was happy that his political structure remained solid and dominant as he was exiting the terrestrial plane. He died a happy man with the firm belief that his first son would continue to hold the family together.

I believe that it is irresponsible and defamatory for this Professor to insinuate that the elder Saraki died a sad man with the innuendo that his son’s political decision was responsible for his death. I am stating this point without prejudice to whatever measure the younger Saraki will take in response to this innuendo. The insinuation in the write-up that Oloye died as a sad man is heavily laced with malice.

Well, this is not the first time Prof Kperogi will dish out falsehood. Last July, he wrongly claimed that the former first lady of Nigeria, Hajia Aisha Buhari, was divorced from the late President Muhammadu Buhari before his death. He had to apologise profusely.

It is a fact that the Saraki family has been successful in Nigerian politics. What do you call legacy if not what the younger Saraki achieved during his father’s lifetime and in his absence? How many of Oloye’s contemporaries in politics had the fortune of having their children record political success after their demise?

The older man was the Senate Leader. His son rose to become the Senate President. And from all accounts, oral and written, it is widely acknowledged that Saraki remains the best Senate President since the return of democracy in 1999. This is a fact that has been accepted by all and sundry, including the people who hate Dr Bukola Saraki’s guts.

Saraki, as governor, did so well that till today, even Prof. Kperogi cannot tell us of any administration that performed better in the provision of social amenities for the people of Baruten Local Government, the home base of the professor, than the Saraki administration between 2003 and 2011. The Professor should learn to keep his bias out of his writings. After all, he is the one teaching students objectivity.

Sanusi writes from Abuja.