Tunde Bakare: I didn’t say Buhari has disappointed Nigerians

Pastor Tunde Bakare, the General Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church on Thursday denied saying President Muhammadu Buhari has disappointed Nigerians.

On his assessment of Buhari’s performance, Pastor Bakare made the denial on Arise TV, when asked about comments he made in an earlier Instagram interview with the Publisher of Ovation Magazine, Dele Momodu.

Bakare was quoted by many media houses as saying President Buhari had disappointed Nigerians. However, speaking on Thursday, the fiery cleric and lawyer said the newspapers decided the headlines with which to sell their papers and that they quoted him wrong.

“Those headlines were creations of the newspapers themselves. Those were not the exact words I used.” Bakare said.

He recalled what he said: ‘The coming of President Buhari into power in 2015 was a breath of fresh air to so many people.

‘But in the midst of all competing demands, the conflicts and everything that happened, the expectations they had; not all of them would have been met.

‘And, therefore, Nigerians are entitled to say they are disappointed.’

He stressed: “I did not use the words ‘Buhari has disappointed Nigerians’. I will not ask the papers not to sell their papers using any headline. Sometimes they make their own deduction from what was spoken.

“I chose to be moderate in all that I say. Except I have concrete facts, I do not just talk.

“But Are Nigerians disappointed? It’s everywhere, every day. You see it in the news. When expectations are not met, people will express their frustrations. It is natural and normal.

“But that does not mean this administration has not done anything good at all and, therefore, should be consigned to the dustbin of history.”