By Abiola Olawale
Prominent cleric and founding member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Pastor Tunde Bakare, has disclosed that he is facing “immense pressure” from influential figures to defect to the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
However, Bakare, the founder of Citadel Global Community Church, firmly reaffirmed his unwavering loyalty to the APC, likening the ruling party to his own “child” and vowing not to betray its legacy.
Speaking at the inaugural Citadel School of Governance Dialogue Series themed “Nigeria at 65: Historical Reflections, Futuristic Projection” in Oregun, Lagos, Bakare declared that he doesn’t have faith in ADC.
He said: “There has been a lot of pressure on me from who’s who to join ADC. They come to my home. Even while I was abroad, the hierarchy of that party kept calling, saying they needed my voice.
“I am not going to take part in ADC. The last time I knew about ADC was about a plane that crashed. I wish them well, because we need a robust opposition.
“But you don’t birth a child called APC and then try to kill it yourself. We are not going to have another Awolowo-Akintola crisis in the south-west.”
The preacher also asserted that Bola Tinubu’s presidency is divinely ordained.
“If God wants to remove ‘emilokan,’ He knows how to do it. You can’t get the kind of thing Tinubu has brought without God’s support,” he added.
The New Diplomat reports that Bakare was one of the aspirants who jostled for the APC presidential ticket, on the APC platform in 2023, alongside eventual winner Tinubu.
Recall that in 2011, Bakare was running mate to late Muhammadu Buhari on the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) — one of the legacy political parties that coalesced into the APC in 2013.
