PTB, as those of us who firmly believe in his national assignment call Pastor Tunde Bakare, is a paragon of public morality. His involvement in politics since General Muhammadu Buhari nominated him as his Vice- Presidential candidate is a study in how a believer can and should practice ‘contact without contamination, which he preaches and practices. His legendary feat as a strict and biblically accurate pastor and teacher is well known. His no-nonsense intolerance for any form or shape of extra biblical practice in the Church has caused very serious public fight within the Body of Christ, for which he is unapologetic.
Most Christians who got involved in politics get lost to the filth of corruption. PTB was the ONLY believer who participated in the 2023 presidential election who didn’t give any delegate a dime. There were other believers who paid bribes of several billions to delegates and still lost. His contribution to Christian values in Nigerian politics is unparalleled.
Let me lay out a few specific examples:
1. In 1991 or 1992, somebody sent a green Mercedes Benz 300 or 500 (popularly called Shagari Model in those days) as a gift to him at the then Latter Rain Assembly, Akilo Street, Ikeja. I visited him one day and saw the car covered where it was parked. When I asked why he was not using it, his response was this: ‘I need to meet the person who sent it and ask him where he got the money from.’ The sender got angry and said it wasn’t his business where he got his money. PTB had the car returned. Later, the man was caught carrying drugs.
2. When his wife, the one we fondly called Mrs. B, turned 50, 14 years ago, the Governor of Ogun State who has been his friend since secondary school days donated some money at the birthday party at Sheraton Hotel, Lagos. PTB asked him publicly if the money was from his personal account or public purse. It was only accepted when the Governor announced that it was his personal money.
3. When Citadel’s construction stated, PTB’s friend, President Muhammadu Buhari, donated N5M. PTB asked him if the money was from his pocket or taken from the public purse. Buhari was not amused. He promptly replied: ‘Pastor, I can personally afford this.’ PTB made the contribution public in Church along with their banters.
3. When PTB turned 60 years in 2014, somebody in the Villa sent him a brand new 2015 Rolls Royce. He asked those who brought it: ‘Is this a gift any Nigerian who clocks 60 gets? They said no. ‘How do I justify such gift from the government?’ They took back their gift
4. Just before the 2015 elections, a bag with $850,000 dollars cash was hauled into his presidential Suite at Transcorp Hotel, Abuja. This was when all kinds of people, including religious leaders, Christians and Muslims; traditional rulers across the nation were receiving such dollar gifts. He turned it down.
5. During the 2023 primaries of the APC, there was dollar rain before, during and after the exercise at the Eagle Square. Men were bought like fowls and goats in the market. Only PTB didn’t bribe any delegate or trade his candidature. Others, including those that were notable believers paid out hundreds of millions of dollars to buy delegates. Some who traded their candidature and publicly announced they were stepping down were alleged to have received as much as $2M dollars each.
PTB stood up on that platform and announced he was not stepping down but stepping up.
6. It’s normal in our clime to use proximity to power for personal profit. Nothing particularly wrong if done properly. Till the day President Muhammadu Buhari left office, he lamented that PTB has not personally benefited from any government deal or largesse. About two years before the expiration of his presidency, the President attempted to give his friend a gift. PTB had just arrived Abuja. He came from Lagos with his lawyer, Tope Adebayo.
Only the three of us were there that day. Not long afterwards, his phone rang. It was from Tunde Sabiu, the President’s nephew and Personal Assistant. He said the President had something for PTB. PTB sent his lawyer. Tope came back with an envelope. It was an offer of an oil block. Many would have jumped at it calling it divine supply. PTB went back to see his friend, the President to thank him for the offer. And then, he told him: ‘Thank you Mr. President but I cannot accept this gift. It will spoil my brand. Oil block is a national treasure and if I get it just because I’m the President’s friend, then it becomes morally indefensible. Thanks but no thanks.’
PTB has demonstrated beyond measure that he is a man of conviction of steel. There are more than two dozen incidents like this but each time, he overcame; seeing them as test of his character and his readiness to be a leader without greed and covetousness.
Not a few people have wondered why he combines his pastoral calling with political activism. To some, these roles are mutually exclusive. In holding this view, the assumption is that pastoral work is a holy calling while politics is a vocation for sinners.
Truth be told, PTB is not a politician in the conventional traditional sense. PTB is a nation builder who is deploying the tool of politics as a means to achieve an end; an end which includes the liberation from hunger, provision of infrastructure, and security of life and property.
The bane of politics in Nigeria is selfishness and greed. Politics is often a racket, not different from gangsterism with money making as sole objective. What we have presently in Nigeria are merchants pretending to be leaders. We have raiders holding political offices throughout the length and breadth of the Nigeria landscape. To the contrary, PTB is not driven by the mundane or compulsive material acquisition at public expense. Rather, PTB is driven by the vision of how better Nigeria can become. And this is what informs his common mantra ‘Nigeria will work in my life time.’