The founder of Citadel Global Community Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has dismissed speculations that he might join the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to challenge President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general elections.
Speaking on Saturday at the maiden edition of the Citadel School of Governance Dialogue Series, themed “Nigeria at 65: Historical Reflections, Futuristic Projection” in Oregun, Lagos, Bakare disclosed that he had come under pressure from political stakeholders, including a former governor and minister from the South-West, to align with the ADC.
He revealed that even some of his younger political associates, who had benefited from holding offices in the All Progressives Congress (APC), had urged him to lend his influence to the ADC.
“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. I am not going to take part in ADC. The last time I knew about ADC was about a plane that crashed,” Bakare said.
While stressing that Nigeria needs a robust opposition, the cleric maintained that he would not work against the APC, which he helped establish.
“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 added.
Bakare further stated that President Tinubu’s emergence was a product of 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 declared.
