Latter Rain Church Senior Pastor, Mr Tunde Bakare broke his silence on a trending video of him claiming to be God-ordained successor to President Muhammadu Buhari.

The cleric said he was only expressing his aspiration to lead the country which was within his rights as provided by the Constitution.

Clarifying the “misconceptions” surrounding the video on his aspiration to become the 16th president, the lawyer-turned cleric said that the video was about one year and seven months old and was merely an expression of his aspiration.

He said what God showed him was his personal business and that he had a right to aspire to the highest office.

“It is the true expression of my political ambition. Whatever God has shown me is my private ambition,” he said.

Bakare, who will be holding a state of the nation broadcast on October 6, reiterated that it was necessary to clear the air, adding that an actionable roadmap to the stability, security and success of the country might be found therein.

“Contrary to the misconceptions and misinformation, the trending video about the 16th presidency was an excerpt from a message titled: ‘Be Grateful for Your Blessings (Part 3),’ which I preached in this auditorium on Sunday, February 18, 2018.

“A year and seven months after the statements were made and erroneously associated with recent developments relating to the Office of the Vice President, suggests that it was done by the uninformed.

“It might have also been a deliberately designed attempt to misinform the public by linking unrelated issues, in order to create divisions where there are none, thereby, heating up the polity unnecessarily,” he said.

The cleric said that it was not in his character to respond to every whim and caprice of any issue in the cyberspace, but it had become necessary to set the record straight on the misconceptions.

Responding to a question on what political platform he would launch his presidential aspiration, Bakare said he would not count his chicken before they were hatched.

”When I get to the bridge, I will cross it”, he added.

He explained that he was not desperate and was not a member of any political party.

Bakare contested with Mr Buhari in 2011 as presidential running mate on the platform of defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).

The Nation