Father Calls for Cancellation of Son's Electoral Victory

Dr Olusola Saraki’s Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) has joined nine other political parties, to call for the cancellation of last Saturday’s National Assembly election in Kwara State, at which his son and incumbent Governor of the state, Dr Bukola Saraki won the Central Senatorial seat.

The parties are alleging that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) connived with the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) to rig the election, through financial inducement and ballot stuffing, among other means.

Disagreement over who should succeed Bukola Saraki as the Governor of Kwara State brought the political tension between father and son to its peak.

Bukola favours Alhaji Abdulfattah Ahmed, who served his administration in various capacities, as the Commissioner for Finance for close to seven years and also as Commissioner for Planning and Economic Development.

But his father, Dr Olusola Saraki, regarded as a kingmaker in Kwara politics, wants his daughter, Gbemisola, to move into the Government House as Nigeria’s first female governor. Bukola’s opposition to this idea prompted his sister to leave the ruling PDP for the ACPN founded by their father.

Interestingly, Senator Gbemisola represented Kwara Central Senatorial District at the National Assembly between 1999 and 2003, the same position her elder brother, Bukola has just been elected to.

It remains to be seen whether the call by their father to annul the son’s electoral victory will be heeded.