Pastor Tunde Bakare, the Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, advised his congregation on Sunday against “Emilokan” style politics.
Emilokan, a Yoruba proverb that translates to “It’s my turn,” gained enormous popularity after President Bola Tinubu used it during his 2023 pre-election campaign.
‘Emilokan’ is a predisposition toward authoritarianism, according to Bakare, who stated this at a State of the Nation broadcast in a church in Ikeja, Lagos.
The priest stated, “I’m reminded of the warning that I gave to Nigerians in my lecture titled, “Bridging the gap between politics and governance,” in January 2023. His speech was entitled “Vice, Virtue & Time: Three Things That Never Stand Still.”
“I warned that ’emilokan’ or entitlement politics would breed an imperium presidency, one that would veer toward dictatorship and be intolerable of dissent.”
Bakare made his remarks in reference to the Department of State Services’ arrest, custody, and prosecution of Godwin Emefiele, the suspended governor of the Central Bank, as well as the detention of Abdulrasheed Bawa, the former director of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Emefiele was taken into custody by the DSS in June, which, according to Peter Afunanya, the security agency’s spokesperson, “was on the strength of suspected fresh criminal infractions/information, one of which forms the basis for his current prosecution.”
Last Thursday, the Federal High Court in Lagos set August 15 for the hearing of Emefiele’s appeal to prevent the DSS’s and Federal Government’s prosecution of him.
Bakare responded, saying, “The DSS’s actions have raised questions about its professionalism and commitment to the law. Discussions on the importance of due process and the equitable administration of justice have been aroused by the alleged invasion of the EFCC’s offices and the handling of the Emefiele case.
The way the Emefiele issue was handled sent a message to the world about how serious the current President is about fighting corruption.
The preacher said that the current administration’s fight against corruption amounted to making some people the scapegoats because they were “political adversaries while various other major enemies of Nigeria remain untouched.”
The suspended CBN governor may have made a poor decision when managing the nation’s monetary affairs, but he shouldn’t be used as a scapegoat because he was unable to act without the president’s consent, the official said, adding that Emefiele should be punished if proven guilty.