Pastor Tunde Bakare
“I wish Buhari could contest as an independent candidate”
Frontline cleric and Convener of Save Nigeria Group (SNG), Pastor Tunde Bakare, has said he would love Muhammadu Buhari to run as an independent candidate in the 2015 general election.
The former Vice-presidential candidate of the then APC, while speaking with newsmen recently, however said such was not possible because “there is no room for it either in the constitution or our electoral act.”
Bakare, founder of Later Rain Assembly said the major reason he agreed to work with the retired General was on account of his integrity. He also expressed fears that getting too close to politicians might tarnish Buhari’s image.
“When I decided to go to CPC, I looked at the integrity of General Buhari. And I still believe, up to this moment, that Buhari is a man of honour, virtue and integrity. And I have wished he could be an independent candidate, but he has to function in a political party.
“I just pray that there will be no hangers-on that will begin to tamper with his integrity, because, after all, one tree does not make a forest.
“If you are not planting the seed and watering it, in no time the rod of the wicked could come upon the righteous and the righteous will have no choice but to put their hands into iniquity. God forbid, I pray that does not happen to him.
“It is better for him to stand tall and stand erect for the rest of his life than get compromised by men of easy virtue,” he said.
On why he has not joined the All Progressives Congress (APC) like Buhari, Bakare noted that the party was still evolving and he was still observing it. He promised to make his position known in the near future.
You look at both political parties today, everyone in PDP is not a devil and everyone in APC is not an Angel. They are beginning to smell and look alike; but maybe when they begin to bring their programmes out, we will be able to compare which is better than the other. Until then, we can’t see anything now, other than a lot of jamboree.
“APC is evolving. I am not an official, so I don’t speak for them. The people who are speaking are speaking, while those who are working are working. I am one person that will think before I act and I investigate before I invest. When the time comes for me to play any significant role, I will decide, because if there are only two political parties, you have to choose one. If that time ever comes, I will tell you where I am. But until then, I am on the side of God Almighty, watching over situations in the country and being able to direct people, telling them ‘this is the way to go,’” the cleric said.
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