I don"t expect Buhari to appoint me as a minister - Tunde Bakare

The General Overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has said that he is not expecting a ministerial appointment from President Muhammadu Buhari.

Tunde Bakare

Bakare, who spoke in an interview with Sahara TV monitored by our correspondent on Thursday, however, parried a question on whether he would accept a ministerial appointment if offered by the President.

Bakare, who was the running mate of Buhari on the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change in the 2011 presidential election, defended the President’s style of governance, saying, “slow and steady wins the race.”

The cleric said, “As far as I am concerned, I am not expecting to be named a minister. If I am offered an appointment, when I get to that bridge I will cross it. I am already a minister of the gospel. Ministry is my calling and my life. The word minister means servant. When you expect nothing, you cannot be disappointed. I keep on doing what I am doing, to be a solid supporter of the Buhari movement and what he stands for in public life. I have no regret on what I did in 2011. If an opportunity presents itself, I will do it again. I am not seeking anything.

“Let’s not count chickens before they are hatched. The bible says the expectation of the righteous will not be cut off. That is when the expectation of the righteous is in tandem with God’s expectation. If you are expecting from God, the flesh can fail. Who knows tomorrow? In the next two months, when the ministers would be named, what if nobody is here or alive? ”

He, however, said he would continue to support the President in any capacity.

The cleric said President Buhari’s visit to the United States has improved the relationship between the two countries.

On whether former President Goodluck Jonathan should be probed, he said, “I will not advocate that President Jonathan should be probed or not be probed. A day or two before the inauguration of the President, the transition committee received a report. They worked on it for weeks.

“The President has looked into those reports. If there are anomalies, President Buhari will call the former president   and say things are irregular and the law should take its effect. But as for the witch-hunt of others, that is a waste of time. If you keep on chasing the wrong things, you will not do the right things. But that does not mean anyone who has done evil should get away with it.

Bakare said he would not support the restitution of stolen funds as amnesty for corrupt government officials, noting that this would promote a wrong attitude.

He added, “What Nigeria needs now are not so much of restitution. Some stolen funds that were sent back to Nigeria in the past went into wrong hands. What Nigeria needs is a clear example of good governance, the rule of law as against the rule of men.

“On the rule of men, might is right. On the rule of law, right is might. So if you can get ‘right is might’ in place, if you do something wrong and you are punished for it, those who have the desires to do similar things will know that there are consequences for their choices, that is where we are going. I can tell you that witch-hunt is not something that President Buhari would support. Perish the thought, it is not his character.”

I don"t expect Buhari to appoint me as a minister - Tunde Bakare

Transition Committee: I am not aware of any appointment - Bakare denies

By Kelly Amos, Naija Center News

The General Overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare has denied reports that he has been appointed as the head, transition committee by the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari.

NAIJA CENTER NEWS quoted a member of the All Progresses Congress (APC), kayode Ogundamisi who posted on his twitter page yesterday that Buhari had called for Bakare and had appointed him to head his transition committee which, according to the information, did not go down well with the party leader, Bola Tinunu.

Mr. Ogundamisi quickly made a u-turn on his statement after the news filtered around on the social media that Buhari appointed Bakare as a member of those to screen nominees into transition committee.

When contacted by Vanguard Newspaper, Bakare simply said he was not aware of such an appointment. He said  “You are the one informing me, I do not know anything about it.”

Asked if he would accept the offer if he was called to head the committee, he said “you are the one informing me, don’t ask questions on the information you are giving me. Thank you.”

The President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari had said at the weekend that men with integrity will be appointed as members of his transition committee as the first step to an entirely new path for the country.

Pastor Tunde Bakare was the running mate of Buhari in 2011 presidential election.

 

 

Transition Committee: I am not aware of any appointment - Bakare denies

I trust Buhari; doubt his environment - Bakare

The General Overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, on Tuesday said that he trusted the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) but not the credibility of “his environment”.

“Yes I trust Buhari and this is because I have worked closely with him but I doubt his environment. The Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress, which one is really clean? Only God can give us true leaders,” Bakare said.

The pastor spoke while addressing Christians at the annual Lenten lecture of the Island Club in Lagos.

“I believe in contact without contamination,” he said.

Bakare, who was the running mate of Buhari on the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change in the 2011 presidential election, said he was not a politician but a nation-builder.

He said, “If General Buhari wins, let President Goodluck Jonathan accept defeat. Whoever loses is not a loser and if the winner is President Goodluck Jonathan, Buhari should accept this as the will of God.

“The 2015 election is a serious crossroad and we might be playing with fire but with wisdom and prayer, we shall end well.

“ I am not a politician; I am not a PDP nor APC member. I am a nation-builder. Whoever I support is not the issue, God’s will must prevail. My loyalty is first to God and to my country but God knows Nigeria’s next president.”

Speaking on fasting, he urged Christians in the country to examine the true spirit behind the Lenten fast, saying fasting was not an antidote to problems but an opportunity to submit to the will of God.

The pastor attributed the wrong attitude of Christians to fasting to biblical illiteracy, saying that true fasting ordained by God was explained in Isaiah 58, highlighting the need to help the poor and be led by God to observe it.

I trust Buhari; doubt his environment - Bakare

Bakare wants February polls postponed by 6 months

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By Dapo Akinrefon

LAGOS — CONVENER of the Save Nigeria Group, SNG, Pastor Tunde Bakare has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to postpone the February general elections by six months to enable it review the election timetable.

Tunde Bakare

He spoke in Lagos yesterday in his state of the nation’s address with the theme, “The Gathering Storm and Avoidable Shipwreck: How to Avoid Catastrophic Euroclydon, at his church, the Latter Rain Assembly.

Warning of impending dangers for the country if the warning signals were ignored, Bakare said the only way to avert the storm was to urgently address some fundamental flaws in the polity.

He said: “I must state that the proposal for suspension of elections is not with a view to giving the president an avenue for undue tenure elongation but for the purpose of building a coalition that will bring lasting solutions to our problems.

“I have clearly painted a picture of where we are, a disaster is ahead of us. If the northerner emerges as winner, whether he has won that election fair and square or not, people will allege rigging. If Jonathan wins the election, fair and square, they will allege that he used his power of incumbency to rig the election.

“The weather is not conducive for any election in February this year for that matter and I have quoted the right sections of the constitution that empower the president and the National Assembly to extend the election for a six months, provided it is not to stay in power or to elongate but to be working critically to ensure that these things are put in place before we go to the elections. This is my considered opinion and I believe I have the spirit of God.

“In suspending the elections and to gain the support of all stakeholders, the president must not act with the intention to seek re-election. Rather, he should, within the period, commit himself to building a non-partisan coalition comprised of major stakeholders and competent statesmen from each geopolitical zone.

“This coalition, headed by the president, will constitute a combined force that will tackle terrorism and address what I have earlier referred to as the fundamentals, within a time frame of two years or less.”

According to him, these factors have directly and indirectly contributed to the current economic crisis, political instability, and the security situation in the country.

He highlighted the problems which must be addressed to include “the awkward geopolitical structure of the federalism and the consequent lopsided economic structure in which a single product from one region of the country contributes the bulk of the revenue of the entire nation despite the abundant resources spread across the nation.”

Warning of the danger ahead as the country prepares for the elections, Bakare further lamented the level of preparedness of INEC as evidenced in the shoddy manner the distribution of the PVCs was being handled.

 

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Bakare wants February polls postponed by 6 months

Obasanjo ‘Killed’ Student Unionism In Nigeria – Bakare

The convener of Save Nigeria Group, Tunde Bakare, on Monday, accused former President Olusegun Obasanjo of being responsible for the “death” of authentic student unionism in Nigeria.

Pastor Tunde Bakare

He made the allegation while delivering a paper titled,’ Good Governance: Sustainability of Democracy, the Role of Students in the Forthcoming General Election,” in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

The lecture was part of the programme held to mark the Students International Day.

Mr. Bakare, who is also the General Overseer of Latter Rain Assembly, traced the history of student unionism in Nigeria from the colonial days and concluded that the body was dealt a fatal blow in 1978 when Mr. Obasanjo was a military head of state.

“General Olusegun Obasanjo’s government ordered the brutal suppression of that protest. Live bullets were unleashed on protesting students,” he said.

“As we proceeded outside University of Lagos main gate, I narrowly escaped death as Akintunde Ojo, the young man standing just beside me, was gunned down. Through that incident, Obasanjo carved his name on marble as a villain of democracy.”

“I did not mince words when opportunity presented itself in November of 1978 when I pointed to his face and said this government possesses power without compassion, might without morality and strength without sight,”

Mr. Bakare lamented that students unionism had been hijacked by those he described as “never do wells,” just he noted that the height of the fall of unionism in the country was the conferment of the title Defender of Democracy on Mr. Obasanjo in 2005 by student body.

He stated, “Nevertheless, student unionism in Nigeria today is in a sorry state. Not only has it fallen from its pinnacle of intellectual doggedness and ideological astuteness, it has lost its activist steam and has become a mere appendage of ruling political parties and a tool in the hands of corrupt politicians.”

‘The apotheosis of the perfidious degeneration of student unionism occurred in 2005 when NANS decorated General Obasanjo as a ‘Defender of Democracy’; yes the same Obasanjo who masterminded the brutal repression of unarmed students who were merely registering their displeasure over hike in fees.”

The clergyman condemned the role played by student leaders in the botched third term bid of the former president.

According to him, when the progressives rose against the third term agenda, in 2005, the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, shamelessly campaigned for Mr. Obasanjo’s life presidency agenda.

He said upon the foundation of corruption of student unionism laid by the former president, NANS had become weak and factionalised in subsequent administrations.

“In essence, Obasanjo killed student unionism in Nigeria. As a military Head of State, he killed NUNS by brutal repression and proscription. When Obasanjo returned as civilian president, he killed NANS and made it a shadow of itself, doing so this time by corrupting the body,” Mr. Bakare said.

He called on the student body to embark on journey of rebirth to return to the good old days of student activism.

“Then you must rid yourselves of cultism and other self-destructive tendencies and take back student unionism from hoodlums and charlatans,” Mr. Bakare said.

“You must restore student unionism to its glory days. After undergoing such rebirth, the student union must become a shining light to the dark polity.”

Obasanjo ‘Killed’ Student Unionism In Nigeria – Bakare

Apologise for killing Boko Haram leader in 2009 - Bakare tells FG

Lagos—CONVENER of the Save Nigeria Group, SNG, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has said one of the ways to end Boko Haram insurgency is for the Federal Government to apologise to members of the sect over the murder of their leader, Mohammed Yusuf, in 2009.

Pastor Tunde Bakare

He, however, said last Wednesday’s attack on former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari’s convoy in Kaduna State is an indication that bombing in the country is taking a new dimension.

Bakare, who is the Overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly, spoke during a state of the nation address at a church service in Lagos.

Proffering ways of ending the Boko Haram insurgency, Bakare said there was need for “updating and strengthening of military capability, creation of jobs and enhanced welfare to discourage recruits of the sect, diplomatic engagement with the international community, creation of an atmosphere of political inclusion rather than exclusion, among others. We need a strong and well coordinated approach to terrorism.”

Bakare, who was Buhari’s Vice-Presidential running mate in the 2011 presidential elections, said “but for the timely intervention of God, last week’s assassination attempt on General Muhamadu Buhari might have marked the beginning of the end for Nigeria if it had succeeded. We will not also ignore the fact that at the root of the escalation of the Boko Haram crisis was oppression and injustice.

”The summary execution of the Boko Haram’s former leader, Mohammed Yusuf in 2009 provided the soil of martyrdom for the nurture and growth of the sect. Government must declare peace first of all; apologising for the murder of Mohammed Yusuf to the sect members not their sympathisers or bandits.”

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Apologise for killing Boko Haram leader in 2009 - Bakare tells FG

Boko Haram: There is conspiracy somewhere - Pastor Bakare

* Don’t want sympathizers to turn undertakers

* First Lady statement was an embarrassment

* Neighbouring countries harbour, encourage Boko Haram

* Nigeria government is weak

By Ehi Ekhator

The Pastor of Latter Rain Church, Tunde Bakare, has said that the continuous attack of Boko Haram on Nigeria is a conspiracy by foreign countries to ridicule Nigeria.

He said that though help from other countries to fight the insurgents is welcomed, but he does not want sympathizers to be undertakers.

Pastor Tunde Bakare

He said “There is a conspiracy to ridicule Nigeria, I am not pointing accusing fingers at any country, America inclusive, no nation is an island of knowledge. I woke up this morning, i see that the nation has blessed me as an individual, just me alone because my glasses is not from Nigeria, my suit is from another nation, my socks is from another nation, so nations are to bless themselves. I am not pointing accusing fingers at America, but i am saying, i do not want anyone helping us to be a sympathetic undertakers.

“Every time Jesus performed a miracle, he never took the dignity of the people away, in fact, he would ask them to bring what they have, multiply it and give it back to them. He never diminished the people, we should not be rubbished as a nation.

“Down the memory lane, we have fought civil war. As bad as it was, as terrible as the civil war was in our country, like other nations who have had their own civil wars also before now, we fought and by God’s grace, our nation was united and became stronger after that, and we didn’t borrow a dine to do it.

“A few men who are not even up to the outstanding army, cannot hold us to ransom, if there are no neighbouring nations who are harboring these people and who are accommodating them against us. Whoever they may be, whatever nation is supporting terror against our country, as weak as our government or no government, because i said it in the message that as if there is no government here, as weak as our government may be today, we should look at the bigger picture against our nation as a people and don’t diminish us, don’t rubbish us.

“Judgement is upon us whenever we reject and skim out the brightest and the best, this is what we get at the end of the day, so it’s not against America as a person, it’s against every nation and enemies within who are supporting terror and who are encouraging terrorists.”

Answering questions on what could have led Nigeria into this position, Pastor Bakare said “As long as we continue to rig elections, as we continue to hand picked those who will continue to fan the embers of our ego, we will continue to be in this mess. Until Nigeria can choose their leaders, are you saying there are shortages of leadership in Nigeria? Look at the cooperate world, look at what young people are doing everywhere, look at men who have been brought into government who are not politicians, look at what they have done. There is no shortage of leadership in Nigeria and there is no fair distribution when it comes to politics or matter relating to governance. Until you have the best, the bright and the fittest in your country, this is the kind of thing you get.

“The man of God stressed that a country like Britain have their best brain from prestigious universities like Oxford, Cambridge,  who the government trapped into their civil service to formulate their policies to think ahead of time, he expressed disappointment that dropouts are what Nigeria as a country, are getting.

“Speaking on the First Lady, Patience Jonathan meeting with the stakeholders where he was quoted as saying “na only you waka come, chai chai, there is God o” Pastor Bakare said it was a global embarrassment.

He said” I was embarrassed by the utterances of the First Lady, how can the First Lady of Nigeria say na only you waka come? It’s an international forum, shield those people away from giving public interview that will embarrass us.

“Yes, you might be passionate, but let her direct her energy in the appropriate place”

Citing Michelle Obama, the wife of the President of United State of America, the pastor said ” Did you see Michelle Obama? She only held a simple card with #Bringbackourgirls written on it, that spoke volumes, without saying anything, everyone must know where it fits.

Speaking on the entire scenario, the pastor said “I see conspiracy in all these, how can these, i don’t think Boko Haram that began in Borno State can shake Nigeria. What’s their population, that we can’t locate them and deal with them? Are you saying we don’t have superior weapons or the military is so incapacitated completely? There is conspiracy somewhere, i don’t know who but if the government is perpetrating it, God will scatter the government, if other nations or people are behind it, God will scatter them.

My nation will not disintegrate, my nation will not scatter, by the grace of God, we keep on praying, keep on watching that this land will vomit those that are perpetrating evil against it.

Boko Haram: There is conspiracy somewhere - Pastor Bakare