Abubakar Olusola Saraki is a Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

n politician and tribal nobleman who was a Senator of the Nigerian Second Republic

Nigerian Second Republic

The Second Republic was the republican government of Nigeria between 1979 and 1983 governed by the second republican constitution.- Founding :...

 (1979-1983). He currently serves as the Waziri of the Ilorin Emirate

Ilorin Emirate

The Ilorin Emirate is a traditional state based on the city of Ilorin in Kwara State, Nigeria. It is considered to be one of the Banza Bakwai, or copy-cats of the Hausa Kingdoms....

.

Background

Sola Saraki was born on the 17th of May, 1933 at Ilorin, Kwara State

Kwara State

Kwara State is one of the 36 states of Nigeria. Its capital is Ilorin. The primary ethnic group of Kwara State is Yoruba, with significant Nupe, Bariba and Fulani minorities.- History :...

.
His mother was from Iseyin

Iseyin

Iseyin is a city located in the Nigerian state of Oyo. It is approximately 100 kilometers north of Ibadan. The city is estimated to have a population of 236,000.The primary industry of the area is cotton-based textiles.It also known as the Home of "Aso Oke"...

 in Oyo State

Oyo State

Ọyọ State is an inland state in south-western Nigeria, with its capital at Ibadan. It is bounded in the north by Kwara State, in the east by Osun State, in the south by Ogun State and in the west partly by Ogun State and partly by the Republic of Benin....

 and his father was from Ilorin

Ilorin

Ilorin is one of the largest cities in Nigeria and is the capital of Kwara State. As of 2007 it had a population of 847,582.-History:Ilorin was founded by the Yoruba, one of the three largest ethnic groups in Nigeria, in 1450...

. His paternal ancestors were Fulanis who came from Mali

Mali

Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...

 about 150 to 200 years earlier.
He was educated at Eko Boys High School. He attended the University of London

University of London

-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...

, and St George’s Hospital Medical School

St George's, University of London

St George's, University of London is a medical school located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. He worked as a medical officer at the General Hospital, Lagos

Lagos

Lagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...

 and the Creek Hospital, Lagos.

He first entered politics when he ran in the 1964 parliamentary election for Ilorin as an independent, but failed to win.
After the election, he returned to his medical practice in Lagos, only returning to party-politics in 1978/79.

Senate career

In 1977, Olusola Saraki was elected as a member of the Constituent Assembly that produced the 1979 constitution. In 1979 he was elected a Senator of the Second Republic, and became Senate Leader. In 1983 Saraki was re-elected into the Senate on the National Party of Nigeria

National Party of Nigeria

The National Party of Nigeria was the dominant political party in Nigeria during the Second Republic .-Formation:The party's beginning could be traced to private and sometimes secret meetings among key Northern Nigerian leaders after the proscription of political parties in 1966 by the military...

 (NPN) platform.

Subsequent career

In 1998, Olusola Saraki became a National Leader and member of the Board of Trustees of the All People's Party (APP), contributing to the APP success in Kwara and Kogi States. He assisted Mohammed Alabi Lawal in becoming Governor of Kwara State.
In 2001 he was head of a team from the Arewa Consultative Forum

Arewa Consultative Forum

The Arewa Consultative Forum is a political and cultural association of leaders in Northern Nigeria formed in 2000 which has considerable influence in the political scene...

, a Northern cultural and political group, sent to meet and discuss common goals with Northern state governors and other leaders.
Later Saraki switched allegiance to the Peoples Democratic Party

People's Democratic Party (Nigeria)

The People's Democratic Party is a political party in Nigeria. Its policies generally lie towards the right wing of the political spectrum. It has won every single Presidential elections since 1999, namely: 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2011, and is the dominant party in the Fourth Republic.-History:In...

 (PDP), and in the 2003 elections supported his son Bukola Saraki

Bukola Saraki

Abubakar Bukola Saraki was elected governor of Kwara State, Nigeria in 29 May 2003, holding office for two terms. In the April 2011 elections, he was elected Senator for Kwara Central, succeeding his sister, Gbemisola Saraki-Forowa....

 as candidate for governor of Kwara state in April 2003, and his daughter Gbemisola R. Saraki as senator for Kwara State Central in April 2003.

In March 2003, the Societe Generale Bank (SGBN) of which Saraki was chairman was investigated by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency

National Drug Law Enforcement Agency

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency is a Federal agency in Nigeria charged with eliminating the growing, processing, manufacturing, selling, exporting, and trafficking of hard drugs. The agency was established by Decree Number 48 of January l990. The NDLEA is present in international...

 for alleged money laundering.
Later, SGBN was investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is a Nigerian law enforcement agency that investigates financial crimes such as advance fee fraud and money laundering...

 (EFCC) under Nuhu Ribadu

Nuhu Ribadu

Mallam Nuhu Ribadu is a former Nigerian government anti-corruption official. He was the pioneer Executive Chairman of Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission , the government commission tasked with countering corruption and fraud...

, and its license was temporarily suspended.