The Punch newspaper reports that the Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare, told his congregation in his Sunday sermon today that he warned Nigerians against the “Emilokan” kind of politics.
Recall that the then-presidential aspirant, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had used the term, “Emilokan”, which is Yoruba for, “It’s my turn,” to insist that it was his turn to be president after helping others, especially the then-President, Muhammadu Buhari, to occupy the office. The term went on to become a very popular slogan during the electioneering campaigns.
Speaking during a State of the Nation broadcast, at the church in Lagos, Pastor Bakare, who contested the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential ticket against Tinubu and others but got zero votes, reminded his congregation that he warned back then that ’emilokan’ was a tendency of authoritarianism.
His address titled, “Vice, Virtue & Time: Three Things That Never Stand Still,” read in part:
“I’m reminded of the warning that I sounded to Nigerians in January 2023 in my address titled, ‘Bridging the gap between politics and governance.’
“I warned that the politics of entitlement; the ’emilokan’ type of politics would breed an imperium presidency, one that would slide towards dictatorship and would be intolerant of dissent.”
He went on to cite the arrest, detention, and prosecution of the immediate-past Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, as well as the detention of the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, by the Department of State Services (DSS) as typical cases of what he warned about.
Speaking on these cases, the cleric said:
“The actions of the DSS have raised concerns about professionalism and adherence to the rule of law. The reported invasion of the premises of the EFCC and the handling of the case of Emefiele have sparked discussions regarding the need for due process and equitable application of justice.
“The handling of the Emefiele case has sent a signal to the world and the current President’s disposition to the war against corruption.”
He said further that the Tinubu administration’s war against corruption is making some perceived political adversaries scapegoats while other major enemies of Nigeria are left untouched.
He insisted that if Emefiele is found culpable, he should be prosecuted, but not made a scapegoat, stressing that although the suspended CBN governor might have made a wrong call in the management of the nation’s monetary affairs, he could not have acted without presidential authorization.
Ifyafrica (
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