"I have never had any ambition to be president of Nigeria"

The Serving Overseer, the Citadel Global Community Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare, says he has never had the ambition to be President of Nigeria.

The cleric, who has openly expressed his desire to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023, stated this in an interview with Sunday Sun.

According to him, his desire to rule Nigeria stems from a “vision” and not “ambition”.

Asked if he still nursed the ambition to be president in 2023, Bakare said, “I have never had any ambition to be president. I have a vision. They are two different things. A companion of ambition is anxiety, while a companion of vision is peace. If that is my destiny, you will see it happen.”

Reiterating his desire to succeed Buhari, the pastor said, “Yes, I said so in the Church. I am a free citizen, my desire can be expressed and anyone who is angry about that can express their own. I said he is number 15 and I will be number 16.”

Asked if his desire was feasible in view of the clamour for Igbo presidency in 2023, Bakare said, “There is nothing called turn by turn. It is who the cap fits that wears it.

“I support Igbo people to express their own political aspirations. It is the right of every citizen.

“A day will come when it will not matter the ethnic nationality, but it will be who can deliver. Whether it is Yoruba or Hausa or Igbo or Kalabari or Fulani, that will not be the issue on that day. But right now, they have every right to express their political aspiration. They are citizens of this country. But turn by turn, I don’t understand why that will be an issue. May that position go to the best and the fittest in our land.”