TheCable

Tunde Bakare, the senior pastor of Latter Rain Assembly, says he will be running for president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Speaking at the cross over service at the church auditorium in Ogba, Lagos, on Monday morning, Bakare said God has instructed him to return to politics and run for president and lead the nation to prosperity.

The fiery preacher contested as running mate to Muhammadu Buhari in 2011 but both men lost to Goodluck Jonathan.

He also supported Buhari in 2015 and is known to be a close associate of the President.

“I heard the Lord say to me, politics is not over for you, there is still one thing left for you to do; run for president,” Bakare told the church.

“And He said to me, I will work it out myself. I will make it happen in due course. Please trust me, I lie not in the Holy Ghost. This is not easy for me to share with you. I shared this with you, so that you can pray along with me,” he added.

The revered preacher said God has not told him the exact time, adding that the Lord said “I will make it happen in due course”.

Who is Tunde Bakare?

Bakare was born November 11, 1954 in Ogun state, southwest, Nigeria. Two year after his birth, he lost his father and was primarily raised by his mother, Abigail Eebudola Bakare, who clocked 108 in 2016.

He attended Lisabi Grammar School, Abeokuta, before moving on to University of Lagos, to study law, at a time Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo was studying the same course at the same school.

According to Bakare, he had a vision of Obafemi Awolowo, premiere of the western region, in his very early years, which highlighted his assignment as a preacher and a voice in Nigeria.

A FAN OF AWOLOWO, WHO LEARNT LAW PRACTICE FROM FAWEHINMI

Speaking during his 60th birthday in Lagos, Bakare had said “Chief Obafemi Awolowo was my personal hero. I grew up idolizing this colossus of a man who to me was the quintessence of leadership”.

“On April 10, 1967, as a ten year old, I had a dream in which I was on a mountaintop seated between Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the then Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon. In this rather mysterious encounter, we were discussing the future of this nation. After that experience, a seed of destiny was deposited in me which, though I did not fully understand at the time, I could not deny or shake away,” he had said.

Upon graduation from the university, Bakare worked with Gani Fawehinmi, the late human right activist and “senior advocate of the masses”. He also worked with Rotimi Williams, a respected lawyer, before setting up his law firm in 1984.

He predicted the outcome of the 1993 elections and warned that Moshood Kashimawo Abiola, who won the election will be killed if care was not taken.

Bakare also predicted the death of Sanni Abacha in at the Conference of Prophetic and Apostolic Churches (COPAC) in 1998. The head of state died a few months later.

He spoke fiercely against the government of Olusegun Obasanjo, and was arrested in 2002 by the state security service (now DSS), and was released in less than 24 hours after he was picked up.

Bakare is the serving overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly and the convener of the Save Nigeria Group.