2023: Look Beyond Muslim-Muslim Ticket – Pastor Bakare Urges Christian Leaders

The Serving Overseer of Citadel Global Community Church, formerly Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare has challenged Nigerians to look past ethnoreligious sentiments and prioritise nation-building ahead of the 2023 general elections.

He said the time has come for all well-meaning individuals and groups to show maturity in decision-making as a positive way of moving the country forward and giving every Nigerian citizen a sense of belonging.

Speaking against the backdrop of the contentious Muslim-Muslim ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for next year’s presidential elections, Pastor Bakare said it is important for fellow Christian leaders to look at the issue of the same faith ticket with civility, clarity and with continued hope in the possibilities of a united and progressive Nigeria in the years ahead.

The fiery Clergy, who was one of the APC presidential aspirants at the June 14, 2022, primaries, said: “As standard-bearers of the message of the New Nigeria, we dream of a nation in which every Nigerian will be judged, not by their ethnicity, political leaning, regional affiliation or religious persuasion, but by the content of their character, as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once proclaimed in respect of his nation, the United States of America.

“We dream of a Nigeria where there will no longer be indigene or settler but only a Nigerian citizen. We dream of a Nigeria where the state of residence will replace the state of origin in our official forms and where zoning or federal character will become archival aspects of our journey into political maturity.

“We dream of a Nigeria in which every woman, as well as every man, will be able to aspire to any political office at any time without playing the ethnic card and without recourse to it is our turn or it is their turn.”

The Cleric cum politician, who described himself as a bridge between Nigeria’s past, present, and future, further said: “We choose to do this because we believe that building the New Nigeria is the calling upon every Nigerian worthy of the name.”

He also went down memory lane recalling the statement credited to the late Premier of Northern Nigeria, the Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, saying; “As a result, Northern Nigeria had its political foundation built on the principles of inclusion and religious harmony. This value system of religious neutrality and inclusion played out when military forces from Northern Nigeria took over power in the 1966 counter-coup.

“The military had the confidence to leave the nation in the custody of a Christian from a minority ethnic group in the North. Gen. Yakubu Gowon would go on to govern Nigeria for nine years keeping Nigeria one amidst a Civil War.”

Furthermore, the Citadel Global Community Church Serving Overseer said what is most important at this moment should be for Nigerians to renew their commitment to nationhood by building upon the foundation of Nigeria’s founding fathers, stressing that; “What we need is a New Nigeria that works for every Nigerian, Christian as well as Muslim. Nationhood, rather than divisiveness, must be the objective of every engagement/”

To his fellow Christian leaders, Pastor Bakare challenged them to change their stand on party politics, noting that; “What is happening today is the price we have to pay for the years of failure of the Church to strategically participate in the political process.”

While describing as unfortunate the antagonism himself and others suffered for venturing from the pulpit into politics, the popular Cleric admonished; “Going forward, ahead of 2023, we must learn from our mistakes. Christian leaders must, at this point, bring the candidates and their running mates to the negotiation table; doing so with an open mind and based on a clearly articulated charter for nation-building and national development.

“Christian leaders must, at this point, convene a strategic concourse to define the minimum standards across sectors of governance below which no Nigerian, Christian, or Muslim must be subjected.

“Thereafter, Christian leaders must then carefully engage each presidential candidate and running mate based on that Charter and provide a unified direction to the body of Christ in Nigeria having assessed each presidential/vice-presidential ticket based on key performance indicators around the Charter.

“This would be a more mature, structured, and strategic way to respond to the situation as against the emotional reactions that have dominated the polity since the choice of a running mate was made by the APC presidential candidate.”

Addressing the Christians in Northern Nigeria who feel marginalized by the choice of a Northern Muslim as running mate, Pastor Bakare said; “The time has come to upgrade the conversation from politics to governance. The time has come to interrogate the impact of politics on development.”

Agreeing with the Clergy’s line of thought, the APC Senatorial District candidate for Ondo Central, Adeniyi Adegbomire maintained that the party’s presidential candidate is not a religious bigot, describing as needless the controversy trailing the same-faith ticket.

Adegbomire, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that nation-building and good governance for a better Nigeria should be uppermost on the minds of the citizens.

Similarly, an Abuja-based group, Project 37 for Tinubu-Shettima has urged Nigerians to base their decision on who should lead the country in next year’s election on competence and not religion.

Its National Coordinator, Mark Nsimbehe urged Nigerians to be more concerned about people that have the capacity to improve their wellbeing. – With NAN reports