Saraki, Olubadan to lead 23rd Daily Trust Dialogue
Omeiza Bilal
Former Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki will chair the 23rd Daily Trust Dialogue, scheduled to hold on Thursday, 22nd January, 2026, at the NAF Conference Centre & Suites, Abuja.
A statement signed by Ahmed I. Shekarau, Chief Executive Officer of the Media Trust Group, said Dr. Saraki, a two-term governor of Kwara State (2003-2011), has accepted to chair this year’s Daily Trust Dialogue with the theme “Nigeria’s Fourth Republic: What is Working and What is Not”.
The statement added that the former senate president, who represented Kwara Central Senatorial District at the National Assembly from 2011 to 2019, will be presiding the occasion with his wealth of experience as a key actor and keen political observer at national and sub-national levels spanning nearly three decades.
Before venturing into politics, Saraki, the Waziri Ngeri of Ilorin, had worked as a medical officer at the Rush Green Hospital, Essex, United Kingdom, between 1988 and 1989 following his graduation from London Hospital Medical College, University of London, where he obtained a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) in 1987.
He became a director of the defunct Société Générale Bank Ltd in 1990 and held the position until his appointment in 2000 by former President Olusegun Obasanjo as Special Assistant on Budget.
According to the statement by the Media Trust Group, His Imperial Majesty, the Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, will serve as Special Guest of Honour at the 23rd Dialogue, where public figures within and outside the government will speak extensively on the theme of the event.
Ladoja, who was crowned the 44th Olubadan in September 2025, was governor of Oyo State from 2023 to 2007 and represented Oyo South in the Senate in the short-lived Third Republic between 1992 and 1993.
The monarch, a graduate in chemical engineering from the University of Liège, Belgium (1966–1972), has cognate experience in the private sector, having worked for 13 years at Total Nigeria in various positions. He started his private investment in 1985, venturing into shipping, manufacturing, banking, agriculture and transportation. He was installed Jagun Balogun in 1993, and became a director of Standard Trust Bank Limited in 2000.
Media Trust Group, the owners of Daily Trust, Aminiya, Trust TV, Trust Radio and Digital Trust, revealed in the statement signed by its CEO that the 23rd Daily Trust Dialogue will be a multi-layered event, with a pre-event countdown which involves production, publication and broadcast of treasured contents on some of the most fascinating and dramatic moments of the Republic since 1999.
The high-level dialogue forum usually gathers political leaders, policymakers, industry players, academics, professionals and other critical stakeholders across Nigeria and Africa to dissect and provide valuable insights into pressing sociopolitical and economic issues.
This year’s edition, according to the statement, is open for attendance to all members of the public.
DAILY TRUST Dialogue began in 2004 as a platform that primarily aims to stimulate discussions by Nigerians and other Africans as a catalyst for enhancing national and continental integration, as well as sustainable socio-political and economic development of our country and the continent at large.
