Pastor Bakare: "There are 16 steps in my Dad's house; that's why I'll be Nigeria's 16th President"

Pastor Bakare says when he becomes Nigeria's president in 2023, he'd be leaving Aso Rock to his church to preach.

Pastor Tunde Bakare of the Latter Rain Assembly has doubled down on his prophecy that he will emerge Nigeria’s 16th president—right after President Muhammadu Buhari exits the throne in May of 2023.

Clips of Bakare declaring himself Nigeria’s next president went viral last week and the pastor clarified that the pronouncement wasn’t recent, while questioning the intentions of the persons who went digging and exhumed a sermon that is one year, seven months old.

Pastor Tunde Bakare often preaches about politics and issues of governance (Punch)

“It was mischief makers that took it from one year, seven months and then there was a publication in Tribune on Saturday and they circulated the thing on Sunday; even baba, Kabiyesi Awujale said, ‘Ah, ah, the great pastor, you made this declaration and I don’t know anything about it?’ and I said, ‘Baba, it’s not true’. And he said, ‘But you said this on Sunday in your church!’ and I said, ‘Sunday, when?’”, Bakare was quoted as saying by Punch.

For those wondering from which political platform Bakare would be mounting a presidential run, he said “the one Joseph used when he came out of the prison.”

'Nothing to do with Osinbajo'

Bakare’s declaration clips surfaced as news made the rounds that President Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had fallen out; with most pundits positing that the alleged fallout had everything to do with the 2023 presidency and Buhari’s likely successor.

Bakare told his congregation that the perceived travails of Osinbajo at The Villa has nothing to do with his presidential ambition. 

“They need to understand that I am a one-man army; I don’t need to join anyone to do any evil and never will I; you will always know where I stand on issues. Those who pull others down in order to get up will never get up. We don’t play games here; we declare the word. And if there is any cabal of evil anywhere doing anything to suppress the people of this nation, God will frustrate the thoughts of the enemies; he will turn the wisdom of their horsemen back, in the mighty name of Jesus!

Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo presides over the National Economic Council meeting [Twitter/@NigeriaGov]

“The VP, Osinbajo, will have the last laugh, – they think I’m stupid – except he has violated his oath”, he said.

A preaching President

Bakare also stressed that his ambition to succeed Buhari remains intact and it would happen without effort, bursting intermittently into a Yoruba song: “Ohun gbogbo t’Oluwa yio se fun mi, ko gba girigiri.” (Everything God has purposed to do for me does not require me to struggle).

“I’ll probably be the first president preaching on Sunday,” Bakare reiterated. 

A game of numbers

The pastor also told his congregation to pay attention to the symbolism of numbers. According to Bakare, the number 16 is significant for him, recalling that the staircase in his father’s house has 16 flights and a book he wrote in 1993 has 16 chapters.

Pastor Tunde Bakare can't wait for Buhari to handover to him (Presidency)

“You think this is an overnight thing? Go to my father’s house and count all the steps; in that house there are 16 steps. And I say it to those who care to listen; when that time comes, get ready, I will reach my goal. I meant everything I said. It was deliberately so,” Bakare declared, as reported by Punch.

The Nigerian presidency, which is often rotated between a predominantly Christian south and a predominantly Muslim north, would most likely be left to the south--where Bakare hails from--in 2023.

Permutations, horse-trading and intrigues in this regard have already commenced.

Bakare is not the first Nigerian pastor to declare that God was going to crown him president. Reverend Chris Okotie of the Household of God Church polled miserable numbers in the 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2019 presidential ballots--each time telling his congregation that God had told him to run.