[2][1] He became the 11th secretary general of the National Liberation Front (FLN) following the controversial sixth session of its Central Committee in 2013 in Algiers.
In 2008, Saadani was implicated in a scandal involving the embezzlement of an estimated $500 million USD (52 billion dinars) from the Générale des Concessions Agricoles (GCA) via its shell company Al Karama.
[1] In 2019, he received public backlash for pointing out the historical legitimacy of Morocco's claim of the disputed Western Sahara.
[3] Facing an arrest warrant and a potential prison sentence, Saadani chose to flee to France, which welcomed him when Algeria demanded his extradition.
Following the promulgation of a Franco-Algerian extradition agreement, he chose to flee to Morocco, where he invested and sought political asylum.