Election: Pastor Bakare Challenges Christian Church Over Political Support, Alleges Some Pastors Sold Their Conscience In 2011
PRESIDENT GOOD LUCK WITH GEN BUHARI
Fiery Lagos preacher and Serving Overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly Church in Lagos, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has warned that the Church in Nigeria will face confusion over which of the principal candidates to support in next month's presidential election.
Sahara Reporters in Nigeria report that religious issues seem to be influencing Nigeria's forth coming elections:Fiery Lagos preacher and Serving Overseer
of the Latter Rain Assembly Church in
Lagos, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has warned
that the Church in Nigeria will face confusion
over which of the principal candidates to support
in next month’s presidential election.
In his sermon in Lagos on Sunday, Pastor
Bakare asserted that 2011, the church was
entangled in a bribery web, as some pastors
were heavily paid by the President Goodluck
Jonathan team to mobilize Christians through
different means, and that they delivered for him.
The outspoken pastor did not mention any
names, but noted that if put on the spot to do
so, he would.
It would be recalled that ahead of that election,
President Jonathan appeared at the Redemption
Camp of the Redeemed Christian Church of God
(RCCG) on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, where
he was widely photographed kneeling down in
prayer before Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, the
General Overseer.
Pastor Adeboye prayed for Mr. Jonathan, and
enjoined congregants to "stretch forth your
hands and let us pray for our President".
On that occasion, President Jonathan was also
allowed to speak, which was the equivalent of a
campaign opportunity, if not outright
endorsement. He appropriately thanked the
General Overseer and members of the Church for
giving him to the privilege.
In Pastor Bakare's State-of-the-Nation
broadcast from his church on Sunday, he
suggested that the emergence of Pastor Yemi
Osinbajo, as a recognized member of RCCG, the
largest Christian denomination in Nigeria, now
puts the Church in a tight position as regards
which candidate to support.
Pastor Bakare titled his sermon “The Seven
Signs The 2015 Elections Will Shipwreck Nigeria”,
which he described as indices that would cause
the 2015 election to end in disaster if not taken
care of.
Speaking on the seventh sign, "Potential
Religious Confusion, Betrayals, Scandals and
Persecution," he recalled 2011 when he was
selected as General Buhari’s running mate, and
observed that there was a gang-up against that
ticket by a substantial section of the church
which preferred Jonathan, the candidate that
was perceived as being “Christian”.
"Not only was the church not convinced about
General Buhari’s non-fundamentalist stance, it
also refused to give support to the running mate
who, in its perception, is controversial and non-
conformist. At that time, the mantra amongst
many men of God was that a pastor had nothing
to do with politics.
Pastor Bakare, who is also an activist and
lawyer, said he received reports that some
Christian clergy received financial inducement
from President Jonathan.
"To compound the matter [this time around],
General Buhari's running mate is another pastor
who should ordinarily have the support of his
home church, an influential denomination in
and outside the country and whose head is
highly respected in the Christian establishment.
“Therefore, ordinarily, for those to whom religion
means a lot in the making of electoral decisions,
the current running mate of the APC should be
tiwa n tiwa, that is, “our own” and should be
massively supported by the church.”
He noted, however, that it would not be that
easy. "What would be the implication of turning
away from the incumbent who was massively
supported in 2011 by the church establishment?
How about those for whom the president has
done one favour or another, such as waivers,
contracts, soft landings, protection of vested
interests in one form or another, or even outright
monetary gifts - not necessarily bribery, just a
'harmless' gift? Would these pastors, priests and
prophets now turn against their benefactor, the
president, to give support to “our own”?”
He specifically questioned what the position of
the Christian Association of Nigeria and the
Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) would
be, as organizations that have been massively
behind President Jonathan and who are likely
biased against All Progressives Congress, as
revealed by PFN's 2015 round-the-clock
circulated prayer bulletin.
"Would there be reminders that this same
incumbent has knelt before us at our
conventions where we laid hands on him and
supposedly endorsed him?” he asked. “Or,
would we make a U-turn now that this is “our
own”? Would such a U-turn not come with dire
consequences reminiscent of the Abimelech
experience with the men of Shechem in Judges
9:22-24 (NKJV)?”
On Abimelech, he quoted the Bible, as follows,
from the Book of Judges:
22 After Abimelech had reigned over Israel three
years, 23 God sent a spirit of ill will between
Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the
men of Shechem dealt treacherously with
Abimelech, 24 that the crime done to the
seventy sons of Jerubbaal might be settled and
their blood be laid on Abimelech their brother,
who killed them, and on the men of Shechem,
who aided him in the killing of his brothers.
He underlined that the men of Shechem paid
dearly for those actions with their lives.
“Do we see persecution looming for the church?
Do we see high profile scandals emerging if the
church makes such a U-turn? Or would the
church simply deny or betray its own or, like the
ostrich deprived of wisdom, treat its young
harshly and choose to support incumbency in
order to stay safe and protect interests and
investments? Would the question of support and
endorsement pitch major religious leaders
against one another with brothers fighting
against brother whether in secret or in the
open?”
He again turned to the Bible Job 39:13-18
(NKJV):
13. The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, But
are her wings and pinions like the kindly
stork’s?
14. For she leaves her eggs on the ground, And
warms them in the dust;
15. She forgets that a foot may crush them, Or
that a wild beast may break them.
16. She treats her young harshly, as though they
were not hers; Her labor is in vain, without
concern
17. Because God deprived her of wisdom, And
did not endow her with understanding.
18. When she lifts herself on high, She scorns the
horse and its rider"
Contacted by our correspondent after the sermon
to mention the names of the pastors who
received money from President Jonathan to
"mobilize" Christians for him for the 2011
election, Pastor Bakare chose to keep that
information to himself, but said of a widely-
known street where his church is located, "One
of them, his Church is right here along this
Acme".
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