Founder of Citadel Global Community Church and former presidential aspirant, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has launched a scathing critique of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s leadership, warning that Nigeria is drifting dangerously off course.
Delivering a State of the Nation address during a church service in Lagos on Sunday, Bakare expressed concern over what he described as the weakening of democratic institutions and the collapse of the separation of powers under the current administration.
“To 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,” he stated.
Bakare, who once contested the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential ticket, cautioned President Tinubu against wielding excessive power, saying: “If this state capture was what you meant by ‘Emi lo kan,’ it is an anti-climax that can only be counter-productive in the end. I urge you, Mr. President, to think deeply and reflect on these words: ‘No man is wise enough nor good enough to be trusted with unlimited power.’”
The fiery cleric did not spare the National Assembly, accusing lawmakers of abandoning their constitutional duties and becoming subservient to the executive. Citing the Senate’s controversial approval of an emergency rule in Rivers State and the suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, Bakare described the legislature as a “haven for legislative rascality.”
“This National Assembly, the 10th, has by its unconstitutional endorsement of the president’s powers, proven to be the most spineless in our recent history,” he said. “Through its actions and inactions, the National Assembly has, in effect, become the 48th member of the president’s cabinet.”
He further alleged that a cabinet minister has effectively assumed the role of a third-term governor in Rivers State, enabled by what he called “the indulgences of the president.”
Bakare’s comments add to growing voices of concern over the centralisation of power in the executive and perceived erosion of democratic norms under President Tinubu’s watch.
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