2019: Pst. Bakare conditions significant matter Nigerians should ruminate before picking next president ~ Zip Up Gist

2019: Pst. Bakare conditions significant matter Nigerians should ruminate before picking next president

The chairing pastor of Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, on Sunday, October 7, restated his argument that Nigeria could not make progress without being restructured. The renowned pastor called on the Nigerian electorate to “demand allegiance to restructuring as a precondition for supporting any party or candidate in the next elections.” Bakare made this call in his Impartiality anniversary address, which he delivered in his church in the Ogba area of Lagos,

He said such people seem to have forgotten that the position they presently dwell in is not everlasting. Also to be avoided by Nigerians, according to Bakare, are those who had been in government before and did nothing about restructuring but are now promising restructuring ahead of next year’s election.

He said: “I am convinced that for Nigeria, the idea whose time has come is the restructuring of our nation. “Restructuring must be the overarching mission around which the social, economic and political development agenda is constructed. It must be the wheels on which Nigeria is propelled for strategic relevance. “Among the political class, there have been diverse responses to the call to restructure. There are those who once championed restructuring but have now restructured their opinions because they have become part of the system. They have forgotten that the position they currently occupy is not stable. “There are those now promising restructuring who did nothing in that regard while they were in the system. Such politicians face the tall order of convincing the Nigerian people that restructuring is not a mere front for their inordinate political ambitions. “Then there are those officeholders who are completely opposed to restructuring because they cannot imagine a Nigeria that is not dependent on petrodollars. I do not have a moment to spare for such cynics. Their political extinction is inevitable because there is no force strong enough to stop an idea whose time has come.” The minister also argued that there was no legal basis for the Independent National Electoral Commission to declare the September 22 governorship election in Osun state inconclusive. He argued that by virtue of Section 53(2) of the Electoral Act 2010, INEC was empowered to cancel an election only when there were cases of over-voting, which, he said, was not the case in Osun state. He said: “The recently concluded gubernatorial selection, sorry, election, in Osun state, is a pointer to the ignoble intentions of this political class ahead of 2019. What a sham, and what a shame.