The founder of Citadel Global Community Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare, revealed Saturday that he is facing mounting pressure from political figures to align with the African Democratic Congress, but he firmly ruled out joining the party, citing his role in birthing the All Progressives Congress and a desire to avoid internal fractures.

Speaking at the Citadel School of Governance Dialogue Series themed 'Nigeria at 65: Historical Reflections, Futuristic Projection' in Oregun, Bakare disclosed that influential stakeholders, including a former South-West governor and minister, had visited his home to lobby him. "There has been a lot of pressure on me from who is who to join ADC," he said. "Even while I was abroad, the hierarchy kept calling, saying they needed my voice."

Bakare, who served as running mate to Muhammadu Buhari in the 2011 presidential election, dismissed the overtures with a light-hearted jab at the party's past notoriety. "The last time I knew about ADC was about a plane that crashed," he quipped, wishing them well but emphasizing the need for robust opposition without self-sabotage. "You don’t birth a child called APC and then try to kill it yourself. We are not going to have another Awolowo–Akintola crisis in the South-West."

He attributed President Bola Tinubu's emergence to divine will, adding, "If God wants to remove ‘emilokan,’ He knows how to do it. You can’t get the kind of thing Tinubu has brought without God’s support."

Bakare, a key APC founding member, stressed unity to prevent the kind of rifts that plagued earlier generations, referencing ex Premiers Obafemi Awolowo and Samuel Akintola.

The event, part of broader reflections on Nigeria's 65th independence anniversary, also featured Professor Akinjide Osuntokun, who pinpointed corruption and tribalism as the nation's core ills. "If there is a way of eradicating these two evils, we will be alright," Osuntokun said. "Corruption is the father or mother of tribalism. If the money being stolen was available for development, Nigeria would be far better."

As the ADC courts high-profile figures like Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi for its 2027 anti-Tinubu platform, Bakare's stance underscores lingering loyalties and the challenges of opposition consolidation in a polarized landscape.