Bakare denies written pact with late Buhari

Pastor Tunde Bakare, General Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church (CGCC), has dismissed claims that a formal agreement existed between him and former President Muhammadu Buhari regarding succession plans at the end of Buhari’s administration.

Bakare made the clarification during an interview on Politics Today, a current affairs programme on Channels Television, aired on Monday, July 15, 2025.

“There was no written pact between us,” Bakare said, in response to longstanding speculation that Buhari had promised to hand over power to him.

“He’s late. I will never say anything unfair about him. But there was a kind of look — like, ‘You’re one of those I would love to succeed me’ — and he did his best.”

Bakare, who served as Buhari’s running mate in the 2011 presidential election under the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), was seen in many quarters as a close political ally of the late president. Buhari, who died on Sunday, July 14, 2025, in London, governed Nigeria from 2015 to 2023, and earlier served as military Head of State between 1983 and 1985.

During the interview, Bakare recounted that prior to the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primaries in 2022, Buhari held a closed-door meeting with all presidential aspirants.

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In that meeting, according to Bakare, the late president made it clear he had a preference but allowed them the freedom to choose among themselves.

“In his words, he said, ‘I have allowed governors to choose those who will succeed them or go for a second term. I’m asking you today to freely choose the person I desire to succeed me,’” Bakare recalled.

Though Buhari never publicly endorsed a candidate at the time, his perceived neutrality and subtle gestures during the pre-primary period became a subject of intense debate within the ruling party.

Bakare was among the aspirants who contested for the APC presidential ticket, which was eventually won by Bola Tinubu, who later emerged victorious in the 2023 general elections and is currently Nigeria’s president.

Bakare’s revelation adds new perspective to the power dynamics within the APC during the Buhari era, especially as tributes continue to pour in following Buhari’s passing. The former president is scheduled to be laid to rest today, July 15, in his hometown, Daura, Katsina State, with full state honours.