Pastor Tunde Bakare, the General Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, reminded his congregation on Sunday that he warned against the “Emilokan” brand of politics.
Recall that Emilokan, a Yoruba word meaning ‘It’s my turn,’ which became a popular phrase, was introduced into the Nigerian political lexicon by President Bola Tinubu when he used it during his 2023 pre-election campaign.
But Bakare, during a State of the Nation broadcast at the church in Ikeja, Lagos, said ’emilokan’ was a tendency toward authoritarianism.
In his speech titled ‘Vice, Virtue, and Time: Three Things That Never Stand Still,’ the cleric said, “I’m reminded of the warning that I sounded to Nigerians in January 2023 in my address titled ‘Bridging the Gap Between Politics and Governance.’
“I warned that the politics of entitlement—the ’emilokan’ type of politics—would breed an imperium presidency, one that would slide towards dictatorship and would be intolerant of dissent.”
Bakare’s comments were about the arrest, detention, and prosecution of the suspended Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, including the detention of the former boss of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, by the Department of State Services (DSS).
The DSS arrested Emefiele in June, which, according to the spokesperson of the security agency, Peter Afunanya, “was on the strength of suspected fresh criminal infractions or information, one of which forms the basis for his current prosecution.”
The Federal High Court in Lagos, last Thursday, fixed August 15 to hear an application by Emefiele seeking to halt his trial by the Federal Government through the DSS.
Bakare, in his reaction to the secret police’s unprofessional conduct, said, “The actions of the DSS have raised concerns about professionalism and adherence to the rule of law. The reported invasion of the premises of the EFCC and the handling of the case of Emefiele have sparked discussions regarding the need for due process and an equitable application of justice.
“The handling of the Emefiele case has sent a signal to the world and the current President’s disposition to the war against corruption.”
H also said the war against corruption by the present administration was like making some people scapegoats by making them “political adversaries while various other major enemies of Nigeria remain untouched.”
He noted that if Emefiele is found culpable, he should be prosecuted, stressing that the suspended CBN governor might have made a wrong call in the management of the monetary affairs of the country, but he should not be made a scapegoat because he could not have acted without presidential authorization.
