Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church in
Lagos, Pastor Tunde Bakare, says his ambition to become the President of
Nigeria is a lifelong dream.
Bakare, who didn’t specify whether he would be running for
president in the 2023 elections, said he believed he still has a quota to
contribute to the development of the nation.
The cleric spoke on Tuesday night in an Instagram Live Chat
with popular journalist, Dele Momodu.
Bakare was the running mate to Major General Muhammadu
Buhari (retd.) in the 2011 presidential election. The duo, which ran under the
banner of the Congress for Progressive Change, lost to former President
Goodluck Jonathan and his deputy, Namadi Sambo of the Peoples Democratic Party.
Buhari later ran again and won in 2015 with Yemi Osinbajo
under the banner of the All Progressives Congress. Change was the mantra of the
ruling party in 2015.
But Bakare said, “Rather than getting the change, it appears
that we have been shortchanged.”
The cleric said he has not given up on his presidential
ambition but added that his was not an inordinate ambition.
He said, “In an ideal situation, every Nigerian is entitled
to his or her dream and we must find a way of liberating that office that any Nigerian
who desires to be in the office or to be the president of Nigeria should be at
liberty to do so.
“I express my own desire but it is not any inordinate
ambition and it is not that I must kill and maim in order to get there. I have
something to offer my country, God giving me the opportunity and the people
saying so, I desire to still contribute my meaningful quota to the development
of my nation. It is a dream I have had as a little boy and it has never left me
but I am not pushing neither am I forcing myself on people.
“Remember something about the presidency in Nigeria, those
who pursue it too hard hardly get it, those who put everything into it hardly
get it and those who are qualified like MKO, he won the election, they didn’t
let him get it. Chief Obafemi Awolowo has been described as the best president
Nigeria never had.
“I will tell you it was the time Muhammadu Buhari stood
publicly and said I will no longer offer myself for public service; it was
after that that he got it. So, there is no inordinate ambition here that it
must happen at all cost. If God gives me the opportunity, I will serve my nation
but may the best candidate win in the net election and may God bring the best
and brightest candidate emerge and steer the ship of our nation.”
Bakare also said he did not sign any agreement with Buhari,
indicating that the latter would hand over power to him in 2023.
“As a servant of God the Most High, President Buhari and I
have never discussed it not once. I say that publicly today and if anybody has
anything to the contrary, he can bring it to the open. We have never said it.
He had never said to me, I confide in you, you are the man I would, no, not
once, I express my own desire.
“And if you care to know, this is not the first time I said
it. I said it in Lisabi Grammar School in 1973. Ask my classmates, they will
tell you I said one day, I will be the president of Nigeria.
“In 1984, I mentioned it to Pastor Adeboye, he is still
alive. Before I proposed to my wife in 1982, I said it to her that one day I
will be the president of Nigeria. It was something that I had seen as a little
boy that I have something to offer my country and this country can be better
than this and I will do my best to give it the best shot but it is not driven
by inordinate ambition,” he added.
The cleric further said himself and Governor Nasir El-Rufai
of Kaduna State have not sat down to sign a pact to run a joint ticket in the
2023 presidential election.
Bakare said the next president of Nigeria could come from
the South-East geopolitical zone but the candidate must join a major political
party because politics is about numbers.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com