Months after claiming God’s to him to succeed Muhammadu Buhari as next President of Nigeria, Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church (CGCC) formerly Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has also declared his interest to contest for the presidency in 2023.
Bakare’s declaration reportedly came via a virtual meeting on Saturday after the news of the sixth aspirant and Minister of Transportation, Rt Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, had gone far and wide.
“I have a vision of a New Nigeria that was birthed in me from childhood and an honest aspiration to serve as the 16th president of my beloved nation, Nigeria,” he said.
The declaration is coming about six months after President Muhammadu Buhari received Bakare at the villa where his former running mate confided in him on his next political move.
Bakare was Buhari’s running mate in the 2011 presidential elections under the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).
He will continue to be remembered by Oyo State people for working against the CPC’s governorship candidacy of Barr. AbdulRaheem Adebayo Shittu over anti-Islamic sentiment, when he was reportedly entrusted the South West affairs of the party, leading to Shittu’s inability to make serious progress.
In 2019 after casting his ballot, he had expressed his willingness to contest for the presidency after expiration of Buhari’s second term in 2023.
Declaring his intention, Bakare noted Nigeria needs a leader “who can reconcile grievous historical and current differences.”
He added: “Reintegration of the various ethnic and religious constituent parts into true nationhood, and rebuild the broken walls of federalism while maximising Nigeria’s diverse geo-economic potential.”
