Presidential election: Tunde Bakare snubs Buhari, Atiku; canvases support for Ezekwesili
The Serving Overseer of Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has described the presidential candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria, Mrs Oby Ezekwesili, as the best alternative to the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who are the foremost contenders in the February 16 presidential election.
According to the cleric, among the new crop of presidential candidates seeking to upset the status quo, Ezekwesili has unmatched attributes needed to salvage Nigeria.
This was contained in Bakare’s state of the nation address delivered during the Sunday service in his church in the Ogba area of Lagos.
In the address, titled, ‘The prophetic portrait of Nigeria in her latter days,’ Bakare observed that things were so bad in the country that no one, including soldiers, would be willing to lay down their lives for the country.
This, he observed, might be the reason why the military was having a hard time in the hands of Boko Haram insurgents, apart from being poorly equipped for the fight.
He spoke on the need to elect servant leaders and restructure the country.
Analysing the frontline candidates in the forthcoming presidential contest and the choice before Nigerians, Bakare said, “We have heard the incumbent (President Buhari of the All Progressives Congress) insist that Nigeria’s current problems were created within the 16 years of the previous administrations and that, little by little, they are working to rewrite the narrative.
“On the other hand, we have heard the ‘Atikulated’ side of the contest argue that the 16 years argument is now stale news. We have seen former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and his running mate, Peter Obi, of the Peoples Democratic Party downplay the achievements of the current government.
“We have read the so-called ‘Atiku Plan,’ spanning a competitive and open economic system, public institution reform, reduction of infrastructure deficit, economic diversification, and human capital development. We have also heard Atiku Abubakar’s promise to restructure the polity with a focus on devolution of powers.”
He added, “We have seen a new generation challenging the old order and insisting that Nigerians do not have to choose between six and half a dozen.
“We have seen Kingsley Moghalu of the Young Progressives Party project his experience in economic management at national and international levels as he promises better economic management and a geo-economic restructuring of Nigeria.
“Meanwhile, Fela Durotoye of the Alliance for New Nigeria has eloquently promised a new Nigeria where the cost of living is reduced, power, security and health care are guaranteed, jobs are created, and law and order are maintained.”
He went further to review the performance of Omoyele Sowore, saying, “We have seen the likes of Omoyele Sowore of the African Action Congress criss-cross the nation, mobilising the young, especially students, in his drive to take our country back.
“However, of the new breed seeking to disrupt the political space, none gives me as much hope for the near future as does my sister, Obiageli ‘Oby’ Ezekwesili, of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria.”
Bakare identified attributes which, he said, placed Ezekwesili ahead of others as “her brilliance, experience, sacrificial service to our nation, antecedents at championing and executing pro-people and pro-good governance reforms, compassionate yet dogged belief in the Nigerian potential, and her faith in the God-ordained plan for Nigeria.”
The cleric added, “I salute her for jumping into the fray despite her seemingly limited chances and as I have said to her in times past, come what may, one day, and that day will come soon, we will fix this nation. One thing is very clear in my mind: with her candidacy, no Nigerian can reasonably say after the election that there was no credible alternative to the status quo in 2019.”
