Exposing Pastor Tunde Bakare’s Latest Antics

Lagos-based pastor and the Serving Overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, will never stop to amuse me as he is currently doing what he knows how to do best.

As a keen observer of recent developments in the polity, I find Pastor Bakare's recent call for the sack of the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, as one of his relevance-seeking antics as the self-styled 'oracle' at the Ogba single-branch ministry, whose annual 'State of the Nation' address must not be ignored with the wave of the hand.

Instead of Pastor Bakare, who ran as the vice presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) along with incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2011 presidential election, to concentrate on helping Buhari change Nigeria for good this time around, he is busy dissipating his energy on pursuing a sectional agenda.

His recent outburst, which did not even stop at calling for Emefiele's sack but his probe as well, has really exposed the agenda of the pastor turned politician.

In his message titled, Roadmap to successful change, Pastor Bakare was reported to have, argued that the embattled former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, should not be tried alone over the arms purchase scandal while Emefiele, who, according to Bakare, released the money to Dasuki, would be allowed to remain in office.

But it appears that our 'learned' man of God has failed to realise that Emefiele and the CBN were only honouring a legitimate mandate presented by the former NSA to disburse monies in the account of the office of the National Security Adviser, based on a prior approval by President Goodluck Jonathan, the former Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the Accountant-General of the Federation.

I cannot imagine what Bakare would have done if the treasurer or chief accountant of his Latter Rain Assembly refused to obey his instructions on releasing monies for specific purposes which he had approved.

One thing is however sure and no matter his justifications, those familiar with Pastor Bakare's antecedents would agree that he does not speak or act without an underlying agenda and he did just that in his sermon on January 10 to launch his latest 'project.' As the Convener of the Save Nigeria Group (SNG), his agenda was clear from the start and he did not stop until it was achieved.

Under the guise of fighting for the Nigerian masses against the removal of the fraud-infested petroleum subsidy scheme during the tenure of President Goodluck Jonathan, Pastor Bakare and his co-travellers in the SNG were actually plotting the removal of the Bayelsa-born former president through their various protests and mass rallies.

Today, the same Bakare and his co-travellers are seeing what many of us saw in 2011 when we supported the removal of the fraudulent subsidy.

Now that Jonathan is out of the way, Pastor Bakare has simply joined the forces currently putting pressure on President Buhari to sack Emefiele. And smartly enough, Pastor Bakare used his first sermon in the new year to launch his latest offensive. But Nigerians are not deceived, as the only platform that broke the 'news' is known for such high-wired agenda thus betraying the motive behind the entire project.

It is really sad and hypocritical for a man of God, who saw everything wrong in the attempt by Jonathan to withdraw petroleum subsidy, to be singing the praises of the latest subsidy removal.

I will really not be surprised if a move is currently underway to gather a million signatures for another million-man march to push Pastor Bakare's latest project of forcing Buhari to sack Emefiele.

However, Bakare should know that Nigerians are not fools and cannot be deceived any longer. Buhari is also smart and had told whoever cared to listen that he belongs to no one and he is for every Nigerian.

The 'oracle' at Latter Rain Assembly should be reminded that Nigerians had rejected him in the 2011 elections and should therefore limit his advice to his congregation at Akilo Road rather than pushing an agenda that is bound to fail under the guise of a so-called 'State of the Nation ' address.

By the way, Bakare should first account for the $3 million that President Buhari gave him for their joint campaign in 2011. Because knowledgeable people in the then CPC say he didn't spend the funds on the election project.

Written by Osayande Obaseki.