The National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Ajibola Basiru, has accused the serving overseer of Citadel Global Community Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare, of incompetence to speak on the economic reforms of President Bola Tinubu.
The former spokesman for the ninth Senate said this when he featured on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Sunday night.
Recall that Bakare had stirred controversies when he emphasised in a nationwide broadcast on Sunday that ’emilokan’ — a slogan introduced by Tinubu in the 2023 election campaign — was an epitome of authoritarianism, recounting how he warned Nigerians in January against such brand of politics.
“Mr President, even though you have announced some palliatives, let me remind you that palliatives cannot address the root cause of the problem,” Bakare said.
Addressing his remark, Basiru stressed that Bakare lacked competence to speak on issues he is not an expert on.
He said, “I must quickly comment on what Pastor Bakare said. Although I don’t see him as a politician and with respect to him, I don’t see him as being competent to say what he has said.
“The fact that we are talking of palliatives does not mean we are not talking about the dysfunctions, imbalances in the economy and addressing the fundamental problems. We are not limiting our problems to the issue of palliatives.”
Quizzed on what he meant by ‘Bakare not having the competence’ to speak on the country’s challenges, Basiru stated that the fact that the pastor is a Nigerian does not mean he is an authority on all issues.
“I said competence on what he is talking about. The fact that you have ideas doesn’t mean you are competent in what you are saying. But he is entitled as a citizen.”
