Stop 2015 Elections: Bakare Calls For Suspension Of 2015 Elections

Senior Pastor of the Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare (Photo: New Telegraph)

With less than two months to the 2015 general election, the Senior Pastor of the Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, yesterday called on President Goodluck Jonathan to postpone the elections and institute a transitional government to address some fundamental problems currently facing the nation.

According to New Telegraph, Bakare, who was the running mate to former Head of State, Major General Muhammadu Buhari in the 2011 presidential election, said in a state of the nation address at his church in Lagos that the president was constitutionally empowered to postpone the election, stressing that, “if the president considers that a part of the federation will be disenfranchised by reason of the Boko Haram plague, a postponement of the election may not be out of place.”

Bakare, who titled the address, “The Gathering Storm and Avoidable Shipwreck: How to Avoid Catastrophic Euroclydon,” drew similarities in the country from what occurred in the book of Acts 27, where Apostle Paul warned of an impending shipwreck but was ignored, adding that the only way to avert the storm in 2015 is to urgently address some fundamental flaws in the polity. Citing Section 135(3) of the 1999 Constitution that says “If the Federation is at war in which the territory of Nigeria is physically involved and the president considers that it is not practicable to hold elections, the National Assembly may by resolution extend the period of four years mentioned in subsection (2) of this section from time to time; but no such extension shall exceed a period of six months at any one time”, Bakare added that the invasion and annexation of Nigerian territory by insurgents launching attacks from the country’s borders and neighbouring countries, is an example of war. “I hold the view that the drafters of the law feared for mass disenfranchisement of Nigerians who will refuse to risk their lives, hence the requirement that the nation wins the war before conducting an election.

“However, I must state that the proposal for suspension of elections is not with a view to giving the president an avenue for undue tenure elongation but for the purpose of building a coalition that will bring lasting solutions to our problems. “In suspending the elections, to gain the support of all stakeholders, the president must not act with the intention to seek re-election. Rather, he should, within the period, commit himself to building a non-partisan coalition comprised of major stakeholders and competent statesmen from each geopolitical zone. This coalition, headed by the president, will constitute a combined force that will tackle terrorism and address what I have earlier referred to as fundamentals, within a time frame of two years or less.”

He listed seven signs of the gathering storm awaiting the nation as: poor level of election preparedness, safety and security risks, likely minority king-making, looming constitutional and legal crisis, impending post-election tension, looming economic collapse, and potential religious confusion, betrayals, scandals and persecution. Bakare stressed that current geopolitical structure of federalism and the consequent lopsided economic structure in which a single product from one region of the country contributes the bulk of the revenue of the entire nation, is at the root of Nigeria’s problem.

The Convener of the Save Nigeria Group, (SNG), who lamented the level of unpreparedness of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as evident in the manner the distribution of the Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) was carried out, also stressed that his political loyalty lies with Buhari, who is now the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate. Bakare, also came hard on the leadership of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) and Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), stating that the two bodies are already divided between those rooting for the emergence of Jonathan because of their selfish gain and those who are inclined to support Buhari because of the choice of his running mate, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, a pastor in one of the leading Pentecostal churches in Nigeria.

He said: “What will be the position of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), organizations that have been massively behind the president and who are likely biased against APC as PFN’s 2015 round-the-clock circulated prayer bulletin reveals? Would there be reminders that this same incumbent has knelt before us at our conventions where we laid hands on him and supposedly endorsed him? Or, would we make a U-turn now that this is “our own”? Other proposals according to him, include addressing the fundamentals which calls for immediate implementation of the report, or part thereof, of the 2014 National Conference, conducting an accurate census and establishment of a truly independent electoral body, creating a true people’s constitution, and conduct of a free, fair and credible election.

“Reasonable people are inclined to ask how prepared the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is for the upcoming general elections. Despite the desperate efforts of the Commission to manage pre-election logistics, the tales of woe that have trailed the Permanent Voters’ Card collection exercise have raised a lot of questions as to the level of preparedness of the Commission with many Nigerians fearing disenfranchisement. “I must also warn that if we sail into general elections at this time without fixing the fundamentals, no matter what precaution is taken by the helmsman and the owner of the ship, once the ship sets sail from Fair Havens, an encounter with Euroclydon would be inevitable,” Bakare stated.