Bakare Blasts Tinubu Over “Motor Park Politics,” Says Nigeria’s Democracy Is Under Siege

Fiery cleric and Senior Pastor of the Citadel Global Community Church (CGCC), Pastor Tunde Bakare, has launched a scathing critique of President Bola Tinubu, accusing him of promoting a “motor park brand of politics” that has crippled Nigeria’s democratic institutions and eroded the principle of separation of powers.

Delivering his State of the Nation address themed “Let the People Know the Truth and the Country is Safe”, Bakare described the current National Assembly as the weakest and most compromised since the return to democracy in 1999, blaming Tinubu’s political influence for turning the legislative arm into a “rubber-stamp” institution.

“At the centre of this political banditry is the motor park brand of politics nurtured by the old brigade and, in recent times, by President Tinubu,” Bakare said.
“It is under your watch that the National Assembly has become an extension of the executive, grossly violating the principles of separation of powers and rubber-stamping the whims of your office.”

Bakare pointed to Nigeria’s democratic history, recalling instances where previous assemblies stood against executive excesses — such as the rejection of tenure elongation in 2006 and the invocation of the Doctrine of Necessity in 2010 — contrasting them with the current legislature, which he described as spineless and sycophantic.

“This National Assembly has proven to be the most spineless in our recent history,” he said. “Through its actions and inactions, it has, in effect, become the 48th member of the president’s cabinet.”

“Descent into Tyranny”
Bakare didn’t spare Tinubu’s cabinet either, referencing the situation in Rivers State where political tensions have simmered between Minister Nyesom Wike and the state governor, Siminalayi Fubara.

“While a cabinet minister has become a de facto third-term governor in Rivers, indulged by the president, the country watches a theatre of the absurd — puppets on strings controlled from Abuja,” Bakare lamented.

He also condemned what he termed the National Assembly’s attempt to “suspend the constitution” and silence dissenting voices, citing the attack on Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and the “undistinguished senatorial misfit” who tried to intimidate her supporters.

Psychiatric Evaluation for Politicians?
Bakare ended his speech with a radical proposal — that all aspiring public officials should undergo psychiatric evaluation before contesting elections.

“The quality of leadership in Nigeria has become so repugnant that citizens must declare a state of emergency on governance,” he said. “Our biggest problem is not the constitution, but those who occupy and abuse our institutions.”

The address is Bakare’s most direct attack yet on the Tinubu administration, marking a deepening of criticism from civic and religious leaders over perceived democratic backsliding, centralization of power, and executive overreach.