The Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare, says it is clear President Bola Tinubu has decided to impose hardship on Nigerians through his policy reforms but have ignored the subsidy thieves, government officials and corrupts powerful individuals who plunged Nigeria into mass suffering and economic deprivation.
Bakare, a former presidential aspirant of the All Progressive Congress (APC) made the revelation on Sunday during a press conference at his church in Lagos.
Tinubu Policy Reforms, Without Fighting Subsidy Thieves, Creating Hardship on Nigerians
The fiery preacher adds that the Nigerian President has decided to fight in the wrong direction by initiating policy reforms, removing petrol subsidy without going after corrupt public office holders, and corporations who made the subsidy regime unsustainable.
He also said the president’s reforms have brought hardship on Nigerians , the effect of which the palliatives provided would be insufficient to cushion for Nigerians.
Read his exact statement below:
“What is further clear concerning our domestic challenges is that, by imposing hardship on Nigerians without going after those corrupt individuals, corporations and government officials who have plundered Nigeria over the years in the name of subsidy, the president has picked the wrong fight.
“The president had been handed a month of grace by the previous administration; a month that should have been used to put in place cushioning effects before the official expiration of the subsidised economy.
“Some might say that you, Mr President, are too tainted to fight corruption because you were escorted into the presidency by a retinue of corruption allegations. Some might even describe you as transparently opaquely corrupt because, despite the indicators of state capture allegedly linked to you, no one has proved these allegations against you in any Nigerian court of competent jurisdiction.
“Some might argue that even the road you took to the presidency was itself paved with filth from the cesspool of corruption and that you are, therefore, incapable of mounting any genuine fight against corruption. Mr President, while we admit that, as of today, our nation has transitioned from an administration that came to power on the 12/30 supposed wings of integrity and anti-corruption to one that cannot be described as such, the fact remains that you are today the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with enormous powers to fight against corruption in its hydra-headed forms.”
VERY SERIAL gathered that Pastor Bakare’s comments were prompted by recent events, including the arrest and prosecution of the suspended Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, and the detention of the former head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, by the Department of State Services (DSS).
Emefiele’s arrest took place in June, based on suspected new criminal information. The Federal High Court in Lagos is set to hear his application to halt his trial by the DSS on August 15.
Bakare criticised the DSS’s handling of these cases, raising questions about professionalism and adherence to the rule of law. He also discussed the ongoing war against corruption, suggesting that it has been disproportionately focused on political adversaries rather than addressing all major enemies of Nigeria.
While Bakare acknowledged that Emefiele may have made mistakes in managing the country’s monetary affairs, he emphasised the need for fair and equitable justice, indicating that if found guilty, Emefiele should face prosecution. He also hinted that Emefiele’s actions might have been sanctioned at a higher level within the government.
CBN Unveils Consolidated Financial Reports
On Friday The Nigeria’s Apex bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria has released its Audited Financial Reports for the last seven years: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022, declaring a profit after tax of N65.63 billion for 2022 while the entire Group posted a profit of N103.8bn for the same year, a positive increase from N75.13bn reported in 2021.
The Financial Statements released by the Central Bank of Nigeria [CBN] for the last seven years is the first time since 2015 that the apex bank will be making its book available for public scrutiny.
Many industry watcher and financial analysts have however condemned the former CBN governor’s handling of the apex bank. Dr. Muda Yusuf, CEO of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, emphasized that the CBN’s past lack of disclosure violated corporate governance principles and the CBN Act, warranting further scrutiny of those involved in the apex bank’s governance.
