Bakare was the vice-presidential candidate to the current president, Muhammadu Buhari, in the 2011 presidential election
By Kehinde Okeowo
Nigerian Prophetic-Apostolic pastor and serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare has announced his intention to run for the highest office in Nigeria.
The 67-year-old cleric made his ambition known on Saturday, during a virtual meeting tagged ‘Unveiling Project 16 to Nigerians in Diaspora’, with the theme ‘The portrait of a new Nigeria’, organised by the PTB4Nigeria in diaspora group.
Bakare said he is seeking to succeed Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) in 2023 at the oval office to address the arrays of challenges bedeviling the country.
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In his address, he cautioned that ahead of the 2023 general elections, the south is being set against the north, and Christians against Muslims, and concluded that he remains the rallying point to restore order in the country.
He said: “The PTB brand is a rallying point for all Nigerians. I have a vision of a new Nigeria and I will play a leading role as we approach the Nigeria of our dreams.”
Bakare also said he is aspiring to become the sixteenth president of the nation because Nigeria needs a leader who can reconcile grievous historical and current differences, and reintegrate the various ethnic and religious constituent parts into true nationhood.
“This brings me to the brand, PTB. PTB is currently an acronym for Pastor ‘Tunde Bakare. The PTB brand is the rallying point for ‘Project 16.’
“Nevertheless, Project 16 is not just about me. It is not about the presidential ambition of any man. In any case, I do not have a self-generated ambition. What I do have is a vision of a New Nigeria that was birthed in me from childhood and an honest aspiration to serve as the sixteenth president of my beloved nation, Nigeria.”
He added that his mission to lead Nigeria is predicated on his desire to change the fortune of the country and birth a ‘New Nigeria’.
He also said issues such as security of lives and properties, ending youth employment, sound education, a world-class health care system, improved power supply, booming economy, as well as infrastructural and ICT developments are the focus of his administration.
“Birthing the New Nigeria is the mission of the sixteenth administration. The New Nigeria is a nation where no one goes to bed hungry and no child is left out of school without access to quality education; where our homes, schools, streets, villages, highways, and cities are safe and secure, and Nigerians can work, play or travel with their minds at rest, and go to bed with their hearts at peace.
“A Nigeria where our hospitals are life-saving institutions and every Nigerian has access to good quality healthcare; where no youth is unemployed and our young men and women are job creators; where businesses thrive on innovation and made-in-Nigeria can compete anywhere in the global market; where homes and businesses have access to clean and uninterrupted power supply and ideas are facilitated by functional infrastructure and cutting-edge technology.” Bakare narrated.
Bakare is not an outsider in Nigeria’s politics, He was the vice-presidential candidate to the current president, Muhammadu Buhari, in the 2011 presidential election, when they ran on Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) ticket.
He also moved the motion for the merger when his then political party, the CPC, merged with other parties to form the APC and in 2019, Bakare said he would be the 16th President of Nigeria and successor of President Muhammadu Buhari.