Tunde Bakare, founder of Citadel Global Community Church, says the region where the next president comes from does not matter.
Speaking with reporters at the presidential villa after meeting President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday, Bakare said Nigerians are only bothered about a leader who will ensure that the country prospers.
The pastor said the “immaturity” of the citizens is responsible for “making us say power must either be in the north or be in the south, instead of looking for the best”.
“Listen to me, if where the president comes from will make the place he has come from to be better, the northern part of Nigeria should be richest and should be the most progressive and the most developed because out of 61 years, the north has produced either the president or heads of state for 40 to 41 years and yet, see the retrogression in the north,” he said.
“If it’s from the south, why should a person like President Obasanjo freeze and seize the account of Lagos state in his own tenure? If it’s from south-south or south-east, why couldn’t President Jonathan use all his powers to develop south-south/south-east?
“If there are agreements between politicians on rotation, a bargain is a bargain. That is between them. But as far as this country is concerned, what we need at this stage is a man who can drive us to the Eldorado.”
Bakare commended the national assembly for empowering the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to determine the mode of transmitting election results.
“Perhaps one of the best things the present national assembly has done, especially the senate, because, with that, Nigerians can vote and then results can be transmitted so easily,” he said.
“Not only that, part of the state of the nation address that I did on October 10, I emphasised how Nigeria youth, especially undergraduates, are disenfranchised in our country.”