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If You Say a Particular Section Cannot Be Trusted with Power, Then We Can’t Live Together – Bakare
The Serving Overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has said “no ethnic group has the monopoly to rule Nigeria.”
Bakare, who has declared that he would succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in office come 2023, said he detested it when people said those from a certain section of the country cannot be trusted with power.
He said though zoning was not in the constitution, it had proven useful for Nigeria’s quest for unity.
Bakare said these on Sunday in a chat with journalists shortly after making a national broadcast on the state of the nation during the Sunday service in his church in the Ogba area of Lagos.
Bakare said, “Time has come to sit on a table of brotherhood and that’s why I said a President like President Muhammadu Buhari must rise up above partisanship and above petty ethnic sentiments, like Abraham Lincoln, like George Washington, to say let’s sit down, Nigeria must move forward. It is bigger than any of us and it will be better for us to work together by getting the best of the North and the best of the South to think through the road path for the greatness of this nation.
“I detest the saying that a particular section of this country must not be trusted with power; no! Then, we cannot live together because nobody is going to be servant of anybody.”
Bakare said for Nigeria to move forward, the different ethnic groups must collaborate and do away with mutual suspicion.
He said, “This is not time for mutual suspicion; this is a season for collaboration. All the infighting must stop; it is like father and mother are fighting and the children are confused. The season cannot afford this; let’s mend the fences. Let’s come together and let us begin to pursue a strategic objective that will set Nigeria on the path of predictable progress.”
The cleric prayed that Buhari would not fail and that “his legacies will not be rubbished.”
When asked to mention a few of Buhari’s legacies that he would love to see preserved beyond 2023, Bakare pointed to Buhari’s fight against corruption and insecurity.
He said, “The reason he (Buhari) is tackling corruption left, right and centre and the reason he is ensuring there is security is so that there will be opportunity for our land to develop.
“If you spend eight years and there is nothing tangible recorded against your name, that is not right. Remember, for a considerable part of his first term, he was ill; thank God he made it back. It’s like he is doubling efforts now to ensure that a legacy that cannot be erased is left behind because four years will soon come and go.”
Bakare said he believed Buhari meant well for Nigeria and that he was not opposed to restructuring.
“I don’t think Buhari is against restructuring. If he is, then I wonder what legacy he wants to leave behind.
“He means well for Nigeria; he wants to leave a legacy and he is doing and trying his hardest within the available resources.
“We are trusting that he will be surrounded by capable men and there will not be mutual suspicion and mistrust among those who are closest to him so that he can focus and get the job done,” Bakare said.
The Punch
Headlines
Abiola Cannot Be Recognised As Former President; He Was Never Sworn-in – Gen Ishola Williams
By Eric Elezuo
One of the prime actors of the June 12, 1993 incidents, General Ishola Williams, has said that much as Chief MKO Abiola wrong was created having won the election, and denied victory, he cannot be recognized as a former President of Nigeria.
Gen Williams made his revelation while speaking as a guest on Channels television socio-political programme, Inside Source.
He maintained that only those who were sworn in that recognised as former presidents, and Abiola was never sworn in.
“Abiola cannot be recognised as former president because he was never sworn in.
The General, who said that he resigned from the army as a result of the wholesome reception given to General Sani Abacha, when he overthrew Chief Ernest Shonekan-led Interim National Government, contrary to expectation, also picked flaws in the narratives given by former Military President Ibrahim Babangida, in his recently launched book, A Journey In Service.
Williams rose in the army to become the Commandant of Army Signals, Commander of Training and Doctrine (TRADOC) and Chief of Defence Training and Planning, from where he resigned.
Headlines
Breaking: Supreme Court Recognises Martin Amaewhule As Rivers Assembly Speaker, Orders CBN to Stop Releasing Funds to State
By Eric Elezuo
The Supreme Court of Nigeria has in its ruling on Friday recognised Hon Martins Amaewhule as the authentic speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, mandating him to urgently resume sitting with elected members of the assembly.
The apex court also ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria to stop releasing to the Rivers State government until a proper assembly is constituted.
Details soon…
Tension escalated at the Lagos State House of Assembly on Thursday as impeached Speaker Mudashiru Obasa made a dramatic return to reclaim his position.
Accompanied by heavily armed men, Obasa stormed the Assembly complex in a bold move that has thrown the State’s legislature into turmoil.
In a stunning turn of events, security details assigned to the substantive Speaker, Rt. Hon. Mojisola Meranda, were abruptly withdrawn on Thursday morning, clearing the path for Obasa’s controversial comeback.
Sources revealed that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) ordered the withdrawal of all security operatives attached to Meranda, leaving her exposed in the midst of an intensifying power struggle.
The Speaker’s Special Adviser on Information, Mr. Victor Ganzallo, expressed concern over the security vacuum created by the withdrawal of personnel.
“In the early hours of Thursday, we woke up to the startling news that all security details assigned to Madam Speaker, Mojisola Meranda, had been withdrawn.
This includes the police and DSS officers, leaving her exposed to threats amid the ongoing speakership crisis,” Ganzallo stated.
He further called on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, as the State’s Chief Security Officer, to intervene urgently to prevent a complete breakdown of law and order within the Assembly.
“The withdrawal of security personnel has left the Assembly naked and vulnerable at a critical time. Urgent action is needed to restore order,” he pleaded.
With the speakership battle taking a dramatic new turn, political watchers are keenly observing how the crisis will unfold in the coming days.
