Dr. Tunde Bakare, founder of Citadel Global Community Church, has turned down calls to join the African Democratic Congress (ADC) despite intense pressure from influential politicians.
While speaking at the maiden edition of the Citadel School of Governance Dialogue Series in Lagos, Bakare emphasized his commitment to the All Progressives Congress (APC), a party he played a key role in forming.
Bakare revealed that several notable politicians, including a former governor and minister from the South-West, have been urging him to join the ADC.
He stated: “There has been a lot of pressure on me from who is 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.”
A younger political associate, who benefited from APC’s government, also encouraged Bakare to lend his support to the ADC.
However, Bakare refused to budge, saying: “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.”
He stressed his loyalty to the APC, describing it as his “child”.
Bakare also spoke about President Bola Tinubu’s emergence, attributing it to divine providence.
“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 that good governance, not just the president’s ethnicity, is what truly benefits citizens.
“The fact that Tinubu is president does not automatically improve the life of an average Yoruba man, just as an Igbo presidency will not improve the life of the ordinary Igbo man if there is no development”.
At the same event, Professor Akinjide Osuntokun, a former Nigerian Ambassador to Germany, identified corruption and tribalism as Nigeria’s most pressing challenges.
“The two problems our country faces are corruption and tribalism. If there is a way of eradicating these two evils, we will be alright. Corruption is the father or mother of tribalism. If the money being stolen was available for development, Nigeria would be far better.”
The post Ex-govs pressuring me to join ADC — Bakare first appeared on Diaspora Digital Media DDM.
