By Dapo Akinrefon
The Serving Overseer of the citadel Global Community Church, CGCC, Pastor Tunde Bakare, on Sunday, said though he was courted by leaders of the ADC to join their fold, his remarks were not meant to mock the victims of the October 29, 2006, ADC Airline crash.
Bakare, who said he remains committed to nation building, urged the present crop of leaders to “learn from history and recognise the transience of power.”
Bakare, who is also the Founder and Board Chairman, Citadel School of Government, said this during a service at the Church auditorium in Ikeja, Lagos.
The fiery televangelist also explained why he turned down the overtures of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, just as he dismissed insinuations that the Citadel School of Government, CSG, is affiliated with any political party.
His words: “My attention has recently been drawn to misconceptions and misrepresentations regarding my statements during an interactive session at the first edition of the Citadel School of Government Dialogue Series held on October 4, 2025, here at the Lecture Hall of the Citadel School of Government. On that occasion, I did state that I was being courted by the African Democratic Congress, ADC, with visits from some of the party’s heavyweights and how I have hitherto refused to accept the party’s overtures, having played a role in the formation of the All Progressives Congress (APC). I also said that for the sake of our democracy, Nigeria needs a robust opposition party not just the ruling party.
“The statement has indeed sparked a significant amount of discussion, drawing a mixed bag of reactions. Supporters have lauded it for its ideological clarity in the Nigerian political landscape, where leaders often seem to lack firm principles, shifting allegiances like a pendulum.
“On the other hand, my position has also aroused criticism, with some seeing the statement as a threat to their political agendas or interests. Some have approached the situation with skepticism, having come to expect a lack of integrity among figures in politics, especially when those figures are tied to religious leadership. There have also been information manipulators, those who distort context and spread inaccuracies, whose actions remind us that when one takes the “text” out of “context,” one becomes a “con.” Among this last cohort are some grandstanding, blinkered and self-projecting commentators who, despite their cloak of self-righteousness, may well be for sale, and assume that everyone else is like them.
I am not swayed by shifting public opinion, whether it be from critics or from praise singers. At the beginning of my ministry, amid a flurry of attacks, the first message I preached was titled ‘Dead to Public Opinion.’ I am not a public commentator, and I do not react to sentiments. Left to me, I would not even respond to the misconceptions. However, I am a listener, and I value intelligent feedback from those around me and from well-meaning Nigerians.
“First, I took seriously the feedback on my honest admission that the name ADC (the acronym of the African Democratic Congress) actually reminds me of the name of an airline that suffered a plane crash sometime in Nigeria’s history. To those commentators who have criticised as insensitive what was nothing more than a metaphor, I ask whether, at some point in their careers, they have used the Titanic as a metaphor to warn of pending danger.
“I also understand that some have amplified that imagery to score political points and further denounce the ADC. For instance, on Thursday, October 9, 2025, the President of the Nigerian Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, alluded to the “crash” imagery in his description of the ADC in an exchange on the floor of the Senate with Senate Minority Leader, Senator Abba Moro. According to the reports, Senator Akpabio, in jubilation over the recent defections from other parties into the APC, said, “The umbrella is torn, Labour Party is scattered, sorry ADC crashed even before it took off…”
“I cannot speak to Senator Akpabio’s context or motivation for his statement, but let me state categorically and without equivocation that my statement on Saturday, October 4, did not in any way bring into the spotlight the victims of the October 29, 2006, ADC Airline crash. I pray that all those with lingering pain from that event will find complete healing and comfort; that God will be the Husband of every widow, the Comforter of every widower, the Father of every orphan and the Restorer of every family affected by that unfortunate event, or by any of the many other calamitous events in the history of our nation. I trust God to give us a nation where transportation infrastructure, whether in the air or at sea, on the road, on the rail or in the waterways, will become safe and accident-free.
Unknown to many, the painful and unfortunate October 29, 2006, ADC plane crash led to the fulfilment of a prophetic warning God sent me as a young preacher to deliver to one of the most powerful traditional institutions and ruling families in Nigeria during the dark days of military rule, an instruction I obeyed at the risk of my life. Today, that institution has been recalibrated just as God had revealed to me and is being led by a noble man, His Eminence, Sa’adu Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto, a well-respected friend and brother.
Indeed, there is such a thing as prophetic similitudes or metaphors in the spirit. Let this undue controversy surrounding the ADC crash metaphor serve as a warning. Let every person saddled with the solemn responsibility of steering the ship of state at any level, whether local, state or national, or in any arm of government, whether the executive, legislative or judicial, learn from history and recognise the transience of power. For those struggling to obtain power, whether in the ruling party or the opposition, I hope they learn the lessons of history. I seriously hope that those in the cockpit of our nation’s governance, and those trying to change course midair, will see the handwriting on the wall, even when written in parables, and will commit themselves to using power as a platform for service to the people rather than for self. He that has an ear, let him hear.
Furthermore, still about the misconceptions around my statement on Saturday, October 4, 2025, it was brought to my notice that because I made that statement at the Citadel School of Government, there is a risk of the statement being misconstrued and misinterpreted to link the institution with partisanship. I want to state categorically that Citadel School of Government has no affiliation whatsoever with any political party and is completely non-partisan.
“As a Nigerian citizen, Section 40 of the Nigerian constitution guarantees my right to freedom of association, including the right to join a political party. My nation-building journey has seen me exercise this right. Like I stated on August 28, 2025, on the occasion of the Facilitators Workshop, where Citadel School of Government hosted facilitators from the University of Lagos Business School, (The) desire to bridge the gap between ideas and governance outcomes was what informed my foray into politics, from being a running mate to General Muhammadu Buhari to being a facilitator of the merger that led to the formation of the All Progressives Congress. It was also what propelled me into running in the primaries of the party. These actions were all motivated by a genuine desire to offer Nigerians a chance at an irreducible minimum standard of governance.
“Despite these partisan engagements, I am a nation builder with my face set like a flint on one goal – to facilitate the emergence of the New Nigeria, a Nigeria that works for every Nigerian in my lifetime – a peaceful, progressive, prosperous nation of endless possibilities. This goal, I believe, is shared by all well-meaning Nigerians.
“However, even though Nigerian political parties, in most cases, are not rooted in solid and lasting ideologies, I appreciate the right of every Nigerian to envision a unique, even if divergent, pathway to the Nigeria of our dreams. I understand that the various stakeholders in the Nigerian project have their ideas as to how to move the nation forward, and I respect their right to contend for such ideas in a competitive political and intellectual arena.”
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