Tunde Bakare, the senior pastor of Citadel Global Community Church, said Nigerians could not blame him for President Muhammadu Buhari’s failure.

Mr Bakare, who ran as vice president to Mr Buhari in 2011, likened himself to the biblical prophet Samuel, who anointed Saul as Israel’s king, insisted that his support for Mr Buhari in 2015 and 2019 did not make him a worthless prophet.

“The problems he inherited and the ones created by him will not make me say let’s throw the bathwater and the baby out. Are there some things that have been accomplished? You just have to come down and see things for yourself compared to where we were and where we are right now,” Mr Bakare said during an online event organised by PTB4Nigeria in Canada.

Comparing his support for Mr Buhari to how the biblical Samuel anointed Saul, Mr Bakare stated, “But anybody that wants to blame me for 2011, 2015, and 2019 should also blame Samuel for anointing Saul.”

He further argued, “It was God who spoke to Samuel, brought Saul to Samuel and asked him to anoint him as captain over his people.

“That Saul rebelled against God; that Saul did not perform according to the plan and purpose of God does not make Samuel a worthless prophet. To those who want to take me to the cleaners, congratulations. I have done something. May God grant you grace to do your own.”

The politician-cum-cleric had claimed God told him Mr Buhari would stabilise the country.