It is not so clear if this is the season for clergymen to audaciously call out the braggadocio of the president, as hours after Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah gave his cautionary sermon, Tunde Bakare, a former All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, toed his path, calling Mr. President’s bluff and warning him to stop playing God.
Tunde Bakare, the lead pastor of the Citadel Global Community Church (CGCC), was said to have issued a stern warning to the president in his address cum sermon that was delivered in the Lagos auditorium of his church on Sunday.
In his address, Bakare recounted the ordeals that the nation has faced in the past, dishing out blows in areas needed to the arms of government that now seem dysfunctional.
In his recall of the dealings of the National Assembly and its membersโthe approval of a state of emergency in Rivers, the unlawful suspension of Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, etc, the former presidential candidate condemned the infringement of the autonomous legislative arm of government describing it as โan extension of the executive, grossly violating the principles of separation of powers, and rubber-stamping the whims and caprices ofโ the office of the president.
He bemoaned the state of the country noting that those behind the wheels are steering it towards perdition.
โTo the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, under whose brand of politics the institution of legislative oversight is collapsing and our democracy is faced with an existential threat, I say: Mr. President, Nigeria is too delicate for this kind of politics.”
“If this state capture was what you meant by emi lo kan, it is an anti-climax that can only be counterproductive in the end. I urge you, Mr. President, to think deeply and reflect on these words: โNo man is wise enough nor good enough to be trusted with unlimited power.โ Please, stop playing God!โ
“Mr. President, it is through your influence that the Nigerian National Assembly has become a haven for legislative rascality.”
“This National Assembly, the Tenth, has by its unconstitutional endorsement of the presidentโs abuse of powers proven to be the most spineless in our recent history.”
โThrough its actions and inactions, the National Assembly has, in effect, become the 48th member of the presidentโs cabinet, while a cabinet minister has, more or less, become a third-term state governor in Rivers State, pampered by the indulgences of the president.”
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