Clergyman Tunde Bakare on Saturday joined the race to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.
The serving overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church announced his ambition during a virtual meeting tagged ‘Unveiling Project 16 to Nigerians in Diaspora’, with the theme ‘The portrait of a new Nigeria’, organised by the PTB4Nigeria in diaspora group.
The former vice-presidential candidate unveiled his brand PTB, an acronym for Pastor Tunde Bakare, saying it is the rallying point for Project 16.
According to Bakare, Nigeria needs a leader who can reconcile grievous historical and current differences, reintegrate the various ethnic and religious constituent parts into true nationhood, and rebuild the broken walls of federalism while maximising Nigeria’s diverse geo-economic potential.
“Nevertheless, Project 16 is not just about me. It is not about the presidential ambition of any man,” he said.
“In any case, I do not have a self-generated ambition. What I do have is a vision of a New Nigeria that was birthed in me from childhood and an honest aspiration to serve as the sixteenth president of my beloved nation, Nigeria.”
The preacher, who at one time said God anointed him to be Nigeria’s president, added that his mission to be the country’s 16th administrator was borne out of the need to birth the “New Nigeria”.
“The New Nigeria is a nation where no one goes to bed hungry and no child is left out of school without access to quality education; where our homes, schools, streets, villages, highways, and cities are safe and secure, and Nigerians can work, play or travel with their minds at rest, and go to bed with their hearts at peace,” he said.
