I warned against ‘Emilokan’ politics – Pastor Tunde Bakare

 

• says 2023 election outcome showed Nigerians fed up with APC

 

Senior Pastor of the Citadel Global Community Church, Tunde Bakare on Sunday, reminded his members that he had warned Nigerians about the dangers of “Emilokan” politics.

Emilokan, a Yoruba phrase meaning ‘It’s my turn,’ became popular during President Bola Tinubu’s campaign ahead of the 2023 elections.

Bakare claimed that Emilokan is a tendency towards authoritarianism.

“I’m reminded of the warning that I sounded to Nigerians in January 2023 in my address titled, ‘Bridging the gap between politics and governance.’ I warned that the politics of entitlement, the ‘emilokan’ type of politics, would breed an imperium presidency, one that would slide towards dictatorship and would be intolerant of dissent.”

Bakare also expressed scepticism about ECOWAS’s proposed military intervention in the Republic of Niger.

He said: “Local support for Nigeria by Nigeriens is at an all-time low. It is, therefore, counterproductive to engage in warfare. While we condemn coup d’etats in West Africa, we recognise that the situation calls for deep introspection on the part of African leaders. We call upon Nigeria at this time to provide good leadership. The real question is whether President Tinubu has the capacity to provide moral leadership even in the domestic context.”

He also stated that the result of the 2023 elections showed that Nigerians are fed up with what the ruling political party, All Progressives Congress (APC) had become.

Bakare said this on Sunday during a State of the Nation broadcast themed, ‘Vice, Virtue & Time: Three Things That Never Stand Still’, at the church at Ikeja, Lagos.

The cleric explained that the APC would have convincingly lost the 2023 elections if it were not for the divisions within the Peoples Democratic Party and the emergence of the OBIdient movement of the Labour Party that split the traditional support base of the PDP.

While sounding a warning to the APC amidst describing himself as a stakeholder and nation builder, Bakare said this is not the APC they envisaged.

He added that the party’s victory as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission is being challenged in court.

According to him, the APC stood for progressivism characterised by substantial positive investment in social sectors such as education and healthcare and it achieved inclusiveness and social mobility.

He, however, noted this has changed over time given the current economic hardship being faced by many Nigerians which he said was a result of anti-people policies of the government.

“The results of the last elections were clear indications that Nigerians are fed up with what the APC had become.

“If it were not for the divisions within the Peoples Democratic Party and the emergence of the OBIdient movement of the Labour Party that split the traditional support base of the PDP, the APC would have convincingly lost the 2023 elections.

“At this juncture, I must also sound a warning to the APC. I was there when the APC was formed and the extent of my involvement is well documented. As a stakeholder and more importantly as a nation builder, I’m more obligated to state without equivocation that this is not the APC we envisaged.

“Even now, the party’s victory as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission is being challenged in court,” Bakare stated.

Bakare had contested in last year’s All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primary, which produced Tinubu as the flagbearer.