A former President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, has advised President Bola Tinubu not to seek a second term in office, saying the current administration has worsened the nation’s challenges.
Naijaonpoint reports that Oritsejafor spoke on Monday during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he criticised the state of the country under the Tinubu administration.
“Don’t begin to dream of coming back to continue this same mess,” he said.
The cleric said the Federal Government had failed to give Nigerians the hope it promised under its “Renewed Hope” agenda.
“The government of Tinubu has done more harm to this nation than this nation has ever experienced,” Oritsejafor said.
He added that many Nigerians were struggling with hardship and insecurity, insisting that the average citizen had lost confidence in the government.
“The average Nigerian today has no hope, except if you say you look up to God to give you hope,” he stated.
While refusing to directly call for Tinubu’s resignation, Oritsejafor urged the President to honestly assess his ability to solve Nigeria’s problems.
“I would not sit here categorically and tell him resign. But I think what I would say to him is, look, don’t pretend to know what to do when you don’t know what to do. Don’t pretend that you can take Nigeria out of where it is now, when you know you can’t,” he said.
Oritsejafor also revisited criticisms against former President Goodluck Jonathan, saying many of those who called him “clueless” were now in power.
“Where are those people now? Are they not the same people today who are in power?” he asked.
“People who called him clueless, but they wouldn’t allow him to do the things he needed to do. They protested against him all over the place in Lagos especially, and across the country.”
The former CAN president said many of the people who sponsored protests against Jonathan were now part of the country’s leadership structure.
“Now, the people who sponsored all those protests, who did a lot of all those things, many of them are the people in power today. So, now they have the clue, but look at where Nigeria is now,” he said.
Asked whether he regretted supporting Jonathan during the 2015 presidential election, Oritsejafor replied, “No, I don’t.”
