Pastor Tunde Bakare has been characterized by the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (APC-PCC) as a “inconsistent, unstable individual” who lacks political worth.
The Presiding Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church (formerly Latter Rain Assembly), Pastor Bakare, reportedly advised Nigerians to avoid those promoting “emilokan,” a term connected to Tinubu that in Yoruba means “my turn.” Thisweekng cites this advice as coming from the Presiding Overseer.
The priest also criticized Tinubu for avoiding public discussions and passing queries that were explicitly addressed to him on to his team.
In a statement issued in response, Biodun Ajiboye, the APC-assistant PCC’s director of publicity, urged Pastor Bakare to steer out of politics and focus solely on preaching the Bible.
Ajiboye asserts that Bakare lacks political influence and advises him to rest while letting politicians take the field.
The statement read, “There is no doubt about the fact that Pastor Tunde Bakare has been a successful clergyman but his foray into politics is a little bit confusing even to himself, for him to begin to assume that he’s a politician is a complete mistake. That President Buhari chose him as a running mate sometimes back is not enough to arrogate himself a position of Aristotle and begin to pontificate and predict political permutations.
“He’s as ordinary as the man on the street without any political clout. A man who got zero votes at his party primaries simply means he has zero personality, zero popularity and zero leadership. He should simply go and rest and allow politicians to be on the field.
“This is the same man who deceitfully told the world as if God spoke to him that he was going to be the next President after Buhari, then went into the primaries of the party he belonged to and nobody could vote for him. Since the primaries, he’s been relatively forgotten in the political space and so he’s come out now to start analysing politics as if he’s a societal barometer for good character.
“What scares Nigerians the most is his inter-lopping attitude thinking that if he speaks the world will tremble, the world no longer revolves around him and he must understand that. He then goes on to brag about certificates at a time when we’re talking about political popularity and relevance.
“I think he should be quiet and allow God to speak to him, if God has stopped speaking to him, then he needs to stop speaking to Nigerians and misleading people. We (APC) are concerned about how to marshal democracy and the next elections peacefully, let Pastor Bakare not throw any clog in the wheel of anybody’s progress.
“His onslaught stands condemnable and I condemn it in the strongest terms.”