Bakare has said that he was born a Muslim, but converted to Christianity in 1974. Bakare attended All Saints Primary School, Kemta, Abeokuta and subsequently Lisabi Grammar School, Abeokuta, after which he studied law at the University of Lagos between 1977 and 1980. He was called to the Bar in 1981 and following his NYSC, he practiced law with Gani Fawehinmi Chambers, Rotimi Williams & Co and Burke & Co, Solicitors. He established his own law firm Tunde Bakare & Co in October 1984. In May 1988, at the peak of his legal career he was called into ministry and he founded The Latter Rain Assembly on 1 April 1989 and is currently the Serving Overseer of the church. He presides over Global Apostolic Impact Network – a network of churches, ministries and kingdom businesses committed to advancing the Kingdom of God on earth. Dr. Bakare is also the President of Latter Rain Ministries, Inc. in Atlanta, GA, USA, a ministry committed to restoring today's church to the scriptural pattern. He was given a Doctor of Ministry degree by the Indiana Christian University under the leadership of his mentor, Dr. Lester Sumrall in 1996.
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Bakare is critical of Miyetti Allah and their leader Garba Shehu, saying that the Fulani herdsmen are a group of terrorists who rape, murder, and kidnap innocent civilians. Several Fulani Islamic scholars criticized Bakare's comments of Fulani herdsman as Islamophobic. Bakare had said in the past that Fulani herdsmen were driving Nigeria towards a civil war. After the 2019 Nigerian general election, Bakare stated that he would run for president after the expiration of Muhammadu Buhari's second term in 2023. Bakare is a supporter of political Pan-Nigerianism. In 2018, Bakare announced that he would be starting his own political movement, titled "New Nigeria Progressive Movement". Bakare has claimed that many pastors in Nigeria get away with "fake prophecies" because their followers often do not hold them accountable. Bakare was criticized however for claiming in a sermon in 2006, that Muhammadu Buhari would be a bad leader for Nigeria, yet he accepted the offer to be Buhari's vice-presedentical candidate in the 2011 election.
