“I said… you with all your excess baggage—cocaine, forged certificate, no father, no mother. Yet you won…
LAGOS — APC politician and pastor of Citadel Global Community Church, Tunde Bakare, says Bola Tinubu’s emergence as Nigeria’s president proves divine will, despite his alleged involvement in drug trafficking and certificate forgery.
“I said… you with all your excess baggage—cocaine, forged certificate, no father, no mother. Yet you won… Now that God has given it to you, don’t play God,” Bakare told his congregation, referencing a private conversation with Tinubu.
Bakare likened Tinubu to the biblical “lame” from Isaiah 33 who takes the prey, urging the president to submit to divine authority: “The judiciary, legislative, and executive arms are vested in God.”
Bakare’s remarks come amid longstanding controversies, including Tinubu’s 1993 $460,000 forfeiture to U.S. authorities in a narcotics case and the 2023 certificate forgery scandal involving Chicago State University.
Despite opposition challenges, Nigeria’s Supreme Court upheld Tinubu’s election. Tinubu’s spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, declined to comment on the sermon.