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General
Overseer of RCCG Worldwide Pastor E. A. Adeboye
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Pastor Enoch Adejare
Adeboye has appointed Pastor Joseph Obayemi as the new General Overseer of
the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, in Nigeria. Adeboye remains General
Overseer, Worldwide, of the RCCG.
Vanguard
report continues:
This
clarification came hours after the social media went abuzz with news of the
retirement of the septuagenerian Adeboye, who had led the church for some 35 years.
Announcing
the change in the leadership of the church during a ministers’ meeting after
the RCCG’s monthly Holy Ghost Service, at the church’s new auditorium held in
Simawa, Ogun State, he explained that the change was necessary
following a Federal Government policy which instructed some of the
General Overseers in the country who have used more than two tenures in
office to retire.
The
policy in reference is the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) of Nigeria’s
Code of Corporate Governance, which was first put forward in 2015.
Surprise
Announcement
In
a surprise move, Adeboye announced to the crowded ministers’ conference at
about 10.25 a.m. yesterday, new appointments of those who
will run the affairs of the church.
The
RCCG leader explained that he was taking the decision in obedience to a government
regulation, saying, in his absence, Obayemi becomes the General Overseer who
will now oversee the Nigerian church.
Adeboye,
who is the spiritual leader of the church, will now oversee the RCCG
globally.
He
also announced that Pastor Johnson F. Odesola will be the church’s Secretary
General, while Pastor Joseph Adeyokunnu takes charge of the treasury.
Therefore,
Odesola and Adeyokunnu will work with the newly appointed General Overseer in
charge of RCCG Nigeria, Obayemi.
Adeboye,
who had predicted surprises for the New Year, stated that there is a
government law that General Overseers of churches can only serve for a
stipulated period of time.
He
then said: “We should always be on the lookout for ourselves. I don’t expect
that anyone was going to ignore me. Love you all. We need to intensify
our prayers and please let’s not shy away from politics.
“I
see God raising influence like Daniel and his Hebrew brothers, men who
know God and shall be strong and do exploits. God bless you.”.
Earlier,
Adeboye had announced a 40-day fasting and praying for members of the
church, beginning from midnight on January 11, 2017.
According
to him, the fasting period starts each day at midnight and runs
to 6.00 p.m. praying twice a day during morning devotion and
again at 5.00 p.m. at the churches.
“If
you want to do it day and night without breaking (just liquid) it will be
for 20 days, stressing that major prayer points will be praising God and
asking God for grace to please Him in every way possible this year”.
The
Law
The
Financial Reporting Council (FRC) of Nigeria, Code of Corporate
Governance, took effect from Monday, October 17, 2016.
The
aspect of the law, Non-For-Profit Organizations (NFPOs) Governance Code, 2015,
which the clergy implicitly referred to, seeks to promote the highest
standards of corporate governance.
The
following are stated in Section 9, which deals with “Position of the Founder or
Leader”:
“9.1.
The Founder or Leader of a NFPO occupies a special position in the Organization
and is committed to the success and longevity of the NFPO. Accordingly, a Founder
or Leader should not take on too many responsibilities in the organization
or have an indefinite term in the running of the organization.
“9.2.
Where for any reason, a Founder or Leader of NFPO also occupies any of
the three governance positions of Chairmanship of the Board of Trustees,
the Governing Board or
Council,
and the Headship of the Executive Management (or their governance equivalents),
the following provisions shall apply before the end of the organization’s financial
year in which this Code takes effect.
“9.2.1.
The Founder or Leader shall cease to occupy these three governance
positions simultaneously. This is to ensure the separation of powers and
avoid possible concentration of powers in one individual.
“9.2.2.
The Founder or Leader may however choose – subject to the agreement of
the organization’s apex authority as expressed in the Annual
General Assembly, Annual Meeting, Annual Stakeholder Engagement, Annual
Conference, Annual Synod, Annual Fellowship Assembly or their equivalents
– only one of these three governance positions subject to his current
tenure. This is to ensure a clear division of responsibilities at the head
of the organization between the running of the governing body and the
executive responsibility for the management and fulfilment of the
organization’s mission.
“9.3.
Where the Founder or Leader has occupied all or any of these three
governance positions for more than ten years, or is aged seventy years or
above, the choice in section 9.2.2 above should only relate to the
Board of Trustees as in section 9.4(c) below.
In
the case of religious or cultural organizations, nothing in this code is
intended to change the spiritual leadership and responsibilities of
Founders, General Overseers, Pastors, Imams and Muslim Clerics,
Presidents, Bishops, Apostles, Prophets, etc. which are
distinguishable from purely corporate governance and management
responsibilities and accountabilities of the entities”
According
to records, only 89 out of the 23, 216 registered churches in the country
complied as at last year.
Section
39 of the Code deals with “Sanctions“39.1. Compliance with the provisions
of this Code is mandatory.
Accordingly,
violations of the provisions of this Code will occasion both personal
sanctions against the persons directly involved in the violation, and
sanctions against the NFPOs involved in such violation.
“39.2.
Where sanctions have been imposed on any NFPO or person for the violation
of this Code, the NFPO is precluded from making any reimbursements to that person
for the sanctions.”
Last
year, some pastors, lawyers and workers of some pentecostal churches in the
country had instituted a suit against the FRC, regarding plans
to effectuate the “Not-for-Profit Code 2015”.
They
were pressing for the enforcement of Order II of the Fundamental Right Enforcement
Procedure Rules 2009, and Articles 8 of the African Charter of Human and
Peoples Right.
They
also claimed that the “enforcement of the Code amounts to quasi-duplication of
the work of the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, which is saddled with
the responsibility of registration and monitoring of compliance of
charitable organizations/groups; that the term of reference being muted
and promoted by the second and third respondents i.e. term of reference
in section 1.1 of the 2015 Code as well as 8-40, specifically, sections
8,9,10 and 37 of the code are illegal and unconstitutional being
inconsistent with section 7 and 8 of the Financial Reporting Council of
Nigeria Act Cap F42, Law of Federation, 2011 setting up the third
respondent among others”.
Others to Quit
Meanwhile,
there were indications, yesterday, that leaders of some prominent pentecostal
churches in the country, who have either served 10 years at the helm of affairs
of their organisations or are above 70 years may follow the Adeboye example by
also quitting the headship of their churches in Nigeria.
They
include the Presiding Bishop of the Living Faith World Outreach, David Oyedepo;
Bishop Mike Okonkwo of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM); Pastor Ayo
Oritsejafor of the Word of Life Bible Church, Warri; Pastor W. F. Kumuyi of
Deeper Life Bible Church and Pastor D.K. Olukoya of the Mountain of Fire and
Miracles Ministries.
The Appointments
Until
his surprise appointment as the Nigerian Overseer of RCCG, Pastor Joseph
O. Obayemi, a financial expert, was an Assistant General Overseer and the
Pastor-in-charge of RCCG Region 2.
Pastor
Johnson Odesola, who, until yesterday was the Special Assistant to the
General Overseer in charge of Personnel and Administration, will now hold
the position of General Secretary of the Nigerian church.
Pastor
Odesola, who spoke to Sunday Vanguard last night, urged members of the
church to remain steadfast and be more prayerful, and refrain from
spreading unfounded rumours capable of derailing established authorities.
ADEBOYE:
A Profile
Pa
Enoch Adejare Adeboye was born on March 2, 1942, in Ifewara, Osun State.
Pastor Adeboye had his B.Sc. in Mathematics at University of Nigeria
Nsukka, and subsequently got his PhD in applied mathematics from the
University of Lagos, and worked as a lecturer in Mathematics at the
universities of Lagos and Ilorin, before going into full time priesthood
in 1984.
After
joining the RCCG in 1973, he began working to translate the sermons of its
then Pastor and founder, Rev. Josiah Olufemi Akindayomi, from Yoruba into
English.
In
1981, Adeboye was appointed General Overseer of the church. He took over
from Papa Akindayomi, who had died the previous year.
For
three years he performed the role part-time, still lecturing at Unilorin.
He finally gave up his university position to preach full-time. The church,
which was not well known prior to Adeboye’s ascendancy, has grown
phenomenally, to become Nigeria’s biggest, with branches globally in
about 190 countries, including more than 14,000 in Nigeria.
Adeboye
has stated that his aim is to put a church within five minutes of
every person on Earth. He married Adenike, now 68, in 1967. She was born
on 13th July 1948.
RCCG was founded in
1952 by Rev. Josiah Akindayomi (1909–1980) after he had been involved in a
number of other churches. Rev. Akindayomi chose Adeboye as his successor.
Adeboye
was ordained a pastor of the church in 1975, and his appointment as
leader (General overseer) of the church was formalized by the posthumous
reading of Akindayomi’s sealed pronouncement.
In
1990, Redeemed Christian Church of God Bible School was founded.
The
newly appointed RCCG leaders are:
Overseer
– Pastor Joseph Obayemi;
Secretary
– Pastor Odesola;
Treasurer
– Pastor Adeyokunnu
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