The Senate on Tuesday berated the Senior Pastor and Serving Overseer of the Global Community Citadel Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare, over his recent scathing remarks about the 10th National Assembly, saying the cleric had “crossed the line.”

The Senate’s reaction was contained in a statement issued in Abuja by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Yemi Adaramodu.

Bakare, who contested the All Progressives Congress presidential ticket against President Bola Tinubu in 2022, had during his Easter State-of-the-Nation broadcast in Lagos, accused the President of reducing the 10th Assembly to “a haven for legislative rascality” and likened it to the 48th member of his cabinet.

He also condemned the emergency rule declared in Rivers State and criticised the National Assembly for backing it.

The cleric further lamented the worsening insecurity, citing a fresh wave of killings in Plateau, Benue, and Enugu states.

However, Adaramodu described Bakare’s comments as sweeping, disparaging, and politically motivated.

“We view his corrosive criticisms of the National Assembly as a biased and political ecumenical homily,” the statement read.

“The National Assembly cannot and will not be drawn into responding to issues that are already before a court of competent jurisdiction, out of respect for the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary.”