I suffered as Senate President challenging Buhari over loans – Saraki

Former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has disclosed that he challenged the executive on foreign loans while in office.

Saraki, however, noted that he got a political push back because the system was not designed to support proper scrutiny.

The former governor of Kwara State was Senate President from 2015 to 2019 under the administration of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari.

However, he said he championed fiscal accountability and reforms during his tenure as head of the National Assembly.

Saraki spoke on Tuesday at the Global Strategic Advisory Group meeting in Villa La Collina, Lake Como, Italy, where he participated in a panel discussion on “Development Policies—Withdrawal of the U.S. from International Development: Opportunities and Challenges.”

He stressed that Nigeria’s low tax-to-GDP ratio remains one of the country’s biggest obstacles to sustainable development.

“During my tenure as Senate President, we placed strong emphasis on fiscal oversight, introducing open budget hearings, confronting the issue of unremitted revenues held outside the treasury system, and working on petroleum sector governance reform.

“These were not easy fights. But they were necessary ones, because the alternative is permanent external dependency.

“I experienced this firsthand when, as Senate President of Nigeria, I challenged the executive on foreign loan approvals and received significant political push-back because the system was not designed to support proper scrutiny of purpose or impact.

“Many of these loans were accepted as if they were free gifts, yet repayment obligations remained,” he said.