For a man who came short of becoming the Vice President under President Muhammadu Buhari; who is widely rated as the President’s alter ego, to now keep his distance and pillory the Buhari administration with steaming hot criticisms, is, indubitably, a sour taste in the mouth. And for the ruling All Progressives Congress, this is simply bad news.
Recall that Pastor Tunde Bakare was Buhari’s running mate during the 2011 presidential election, when they contested on the platform of Congress for Progressive Change.
As Bakare himself admitted, he would have ended up running with Buhari again in 2015 were it not for the oddity of their being members of the same CPC in a mega alliance that came to become APC.
Forgive my ill-mannerism; but I could not comprehend why a governor will celebrate the wedding of his daughter, and another governor of his son, on the front pages of newspapers, flashing it before our eyes, when other peoples’ daughters are in captivity
But now, the tea party, it would seem, is over between the two friends who have had to differ on critical national issues.
While Bakare, who is the Serving Overseer of Latter Rain Assembly, a church with headquarters in Lagos, has a wide range of issues in contention with Buhari’s style of administration, never had he been as angry as he was over the festering issue of last week.
The cleric was not happy that in seeming insensitivity of Buhari to the questionable abduction of 101 schoolgirls from Dapchi, Yobe State, Buhari, barely a week after the incident, was sighted at Kano, where he was attending the wedding between the son of Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State and the daughter of Kano’s Governor Abdullahi Ganduje.
Bakare, in criticizing the President, also had similar knocks for other 22 state governors on the occasion.
Bakare, who literally belched fire from the pulpit, said, “Forgive my ill-mannerism; but I could not comprehend why a governor will celebrate the wedding of his daughter, and another governor of his son, on the front pages of newspapers, flashing it before our eyes, when other peoples’ daughters are in captivity.
“If any of them had lost a daughter in that captivity, would they celebrate that way? I know the Bible says rejoice with them that rejoice, but I do not know what the President of Nigeria was doing there.
“And somebody came to say, ‘Let me explain to you, it is Islamic tradition; before this time, about January, they had agreed that he (Buhari) would be the one to give the bride away and (Bola) Tinubu would be the one to pay the dowry and present the son, and they agreed long before now.
“I looked at him and said, ‘The President of Nigeria wanted to come to my daughter’s wedding, and I said to him, ‘Sir, don’t come. That is beneath your office. Face the work of the state and keep serving.’
“And 22 governors showed up to mark register, when 110 daughters of citizens of your nation were captured by Boko Haram that you said you have already technically defeated?
“It just shows how insensitive our leaders are. We have gotten to a stage that our President has become a king and a monarch. That his son who rode his pleasurable bike that almost claimed his life, will be returning from an overseas trip, where he had received special healthcare that Nigerians cannot afford, that it took a whole minister of state to go and welcome him, because he has no job.”
Bakare, however, said the Buhari government had done more harm to the nation, compared to the 16 years spent by the PDP.
“If you truly know the truth, you will weep. If you know how much we are owing as a nation, you will weep. For 16 years of PDP, they borrowed N6 trillion, but for three years of APC, they borrowed N11 trillion.
“And they are not going to pay the debt. You and I, and our children, and our children’s children will pay the debt, unless they write them off again.”
Meanwhile, in what looked like a swift reaction, President Buhari said he was studying the security intelligence report on the havoc in Benue, Dapchi, and others, before he embarked on the Kano visit.
The President’s media adviser, Femi Adesina, in a statement, said his principal was ready to commence immediate visit to the affected places as appropriate.
“In view of recent terrorist attacks, criminal activities and communal clashes in some states, leading to tragic loss of lives and kidnapping of 110 schoolgirls, President Muhammadu Buhari immediately tasked the Armed Forces and other security agencies to compile comprehensive reports on the various incidents.
“Having received and studied the reports, the President has decided to undertake an on the spot assessment of the various occurrences and to meet and console the communities affected. The president will visit Taraba, and subsequently Benue, Yobe, Zamfara and Rivers States,” Adesina’s statement had offered.
But in clear terms, Buhari has avoided joining issues, directly, with Bakare; although it is not yet clear if the two former allies will still find occasion to talk things over.
