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Famed Christian leader and cleric, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has thrown spanners in the electioneering wheel of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, slamming his “politics of entitlement” and asking Nigerians to reject it in the February 25 poll.
Bakare, 2011 Vice-Presidential Candidate to President Muhammadu Buhari and General Overseer and founder of Citadel Global Community Church (CGCC), Lagos, distanced himself from Tinubu’s quest for presidency and warned against voting persons with entitlement mentality to the number one office in the country.
“Entitlement politicians set low performance benchmarks for themselves when they secure power and are content with projecting molehills as mountains of achievement,” Bakare said.
Persecondnews reports that Bakare, who contested the presidential primary with Tinubu, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and six others exploded in a “State of the Nation address” at his church in Lagos on Sunday.
He declared:”Nigerians should reject people with “emi lo kan” kind of politics which insists on their turn even when the circumstances do not align.
“This is the moment for a new breed of leaders to emerge; a new breed of leaders that can situate themselves between polarising forces and bring every constituency together on the table of brotherhood.
“A new breed of leaders that can reconcile past grievances, end marginalisation, and give every constituent part of our nation a prominent seat at the table.
“A new breed of leaders that can shift our national focus from the divisiveness of bad politics to those common grounds where politics cannot divide us – the common grounds of our shared aspiration for peace, progress, prosperity and possibilities; the common grounds of our shared need for security, nutrition, education, healthcare, jobs, success in business, access to electricity, good roads, and other functional infrastructure.
“The common grounds of our shared desire for national glory and achievement across endeavours, and to be recognised and celebrated as citizens of a great nation among the nations of the world.”
Persecondnews also recalls that Tinubu, had in Abeokuta, Ogun capital, in May 2022 ahead of the party’s presidential primary in Abuja said the presidency of Nigeria was his turn (emi lo kan) after Buhari, insisting that without him Buhari could not have been elected president in 2015.
He recalled that Buhari had contested thrice and failed dismally (olule) until he gave him support.
Tinubu also gave a dressing down to Ogun Gov. Dapo Abiodun, who was supporting Osinbajo against him, saying without him Abiodun, who he derogatorily referred to publicly as “eleyi” (this one sitting behind me), would not have become governor in 2019.
Bakare, who is the Convener, Save Nigeria Group (SNG), during the administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, described transactional politics as incensing which must be rejected by the people.
He said politics of merchandise is practiced by politicians who buy delegates and candidates during primaries, purchase endorsement from power blocs and influencers during campaigns, and buy voters during elections.
“Nigerian history has been characterized by contention between polarising forces: between the North and the South; between the Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa/Fulani, and the over 250 additional ethnic groups; between Christians and Muslims; between the old and the young; between the military on the one hand, and statesmen and politicians on the other.
“It is time to make that shift from politics for politics’ sake to politics for the sake of governance. Nigerians should shift from viewing politics merely as a vehicle for grabbing and retaining power, to politics as a vehicle heading towards good governance.
“When we make good governance the central focus of our politics; when we jettison bad politics in its various forms and embrace the kind of politics that outputs good governance, then, and only then, will we welcome the New Nigeria: a nation that can become the peace, progress, prosperity and possibilities capital of the world.
“Let us, therefore, resolve to make governance the driving force of our politics as we approach the polls in 2023, knowing that whoever wins in the end, the verdict will be: Nigeria wins,” Persecondnews also quotes Bakare as saying.
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