Read The Full Democracy Day Speech By Acting President Yemi Osinbajo

Dear Nigerians, I bring you good wishes from President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, who as we all know is away from the country on medical vacation.

1. Today marks the second anniversary of our assumption of office. We must thank the Almighty God not only for preserving our lives to celebrate this second anniversary, but for giving us hope, strength and confidence as we faced the challenges of the past two years.

2. Our administration outlined three specific areas for our immediate intervention on assumption of office: these were Security, Corruption and the Economy.

3. In the Northeast of our country, the terrorist group Boko Haram openly challenged the sovereignty and continued existence of the state, killing, maiming,and abducting, causing the displacement of the largest number of our citizens in recent history. Beyond the North East they extended their mindless killings, as far away as Abuja, Kano And Kaduna.

4. But with new leadership and renewed confidence our gallant military immediately began to put Boko Haram on the back foot. We have restored broken-down relations with our neighbours, Chad, Cameroon and Niger – allies without whom the war against terror would have been extremely difficult to win. We have re-organized and equipped our Armed Forces, and inspired them to heroic feats; we have also revitalized the regional Multinational Joint Task Force, by providing the required funding and leadership.

5. The positive results are clear for all to see. In the last two years close to one million displaced persons have returned home. 106 of our daughters from Chibok have regained their freedom, after more than two years in captivity, in addition to the thousands of other captives who have since tasted freedom.

6. Schools, hospitals and businesses are springing back to life across the Northeast, especially in Borno State, the epicentre of the crisis. Farmers are returning to the farms from which they fled in the wake of Boko Haram. Finally, our people are getting a chance to begin the urgent task of rebuilding their lives.

7. Across the country, in the Niger Delta, and in parts of the North Central region, we are engaging with local communities, to understand their grievances, and to create solutions that respond to these grievances adequately and enduringly.

8. President Buhari’s New Vision for the Niger Delta is a comprehensive peace, security and development plan that will ensure that the people benefit fully from the wealth of the region, and we have seen to it that it is the product of deep and extensive consultations, and that it has now moved from idea to execution. Included in that New Vision is the long-overdue environmental clean-up of the Niger Delta beginning with Ogoni-land, which we launched last year.

9. More recent threats to security such as the herdsmen clashes with farmers in many parts of the country sometimes leading to fatalities and loss of livelihoods and property have also preoccupied our security structures. We are working with State governments, and tasking our security agencies with designing effective strategies and interventions that will bring this menace to an end. We are determined to ensure that anyone who uses violence, or carries arms without legal authority is apprehended and sanctioned.

10. In the fight against corruption, we have focused on bringing persons accused of corruption to justice. We believe that the looting of public resources that took place in the past few years has to be accounted for. Funds appropriated to build roads, railway lines, and power plants, and to equip the military, that had been stolen or diverted into private pockets, must be retrieved and the culprits brought to justice. Many have said that the process is slow, and that is true, corruption has fought back with tremendous resources and our system of administration of justice has been quite slow. But the good news for justice is that our law does not recognize a time bar for the prosecution of corruption and other crimes, and we will not relent in our efforts to apprehend and bring corruption suspects to justice. We are also re-equipping our prosecution teams, and part of the expected judicial reforms is to dedicate some specific courts to the trial of corruption cases.

11. We are also institutionalizing safeguards and deterrents. We have expanded the coverage of the Treasury Single Account (TSA). We have introduced more efficient accounting and budgeting systems across the Federal Government. We have also launched an extremely successful Whistleblower Policy.

12. The Efficiency Unit of the Federal Ministry of Finance has succeeded in plugging leakages amounting to billions of naira, over the last two years. We have ended expensive and much-abused fertilizer and petrol subsidy regimes.

13. We have taken very seriously our promise to save and invest for the future, even against the backdrop of our revenue challenges, and we have in the last two years added US$500m to our Sovereign Wealth Fund and US$87m to the Excess Crude Account. This is the very opposite of the situation before now, when rising oil prices failed to translate to rising levels of savings and investment.

14. Admittedly, the economy has proven to be the biggest challenge of all. Let me first express just how concerned we have been, since this administration took office, about the impact of the economic difficulties on our citizens.

15. Through no fault of theirs, some companies shut down their operations, others downsized; people lost jobs, had to endure rising food prices. In some States civil servants worked months on end without the guarantee of a salary, even as rents and school fees and other expenses continued to show up like clockwork.

16. We have been extremely mindful of the many sacrifices that you have had to make over the last few years. And for this reason this administration’s work on the economic front has been targeted at a combination of short-term interventions to cushion the pain, as well as medium to long term efforts aimed at rebuilding an economy that is no longer helplessly dependent on the price of crude oil.

17. Those short-term interventions include putting together a series of bailout packages for our State Governments, to enable them bridge their salary shortfalls – an issue the President has consistently expressed his concerns about. We also began the hard work of laying out a framework for our Social Intervention Programme, the most ambitious in the history of the country.

1. One of the first tasks of the Cabinet and the Economic Management Team was to put together a Strategic Implementation Plan for the 2016 budget, targeting initiatives that would create speedy yet lasting impact on the lives of Nigerians.

1. Indeed, much of 2016 was spent clearing the mess we inherited and putting the building blocks together for the future of our dreams; laying a solid foundation for the kind of future that you deserve as citizens of Nigeria.

1. In his Budget Presentation Speech to the National Assembly last December, President Buhari outlined our Economic Agenda in detail, and assured that 2017 -would be the year in which you would begin to see tangible benefits of all the planning and preparation work. It is my pleasure to note that in the five months since he delivered that speech, we have seen tremendous progress, as promised.

1. Take the example of our Social Investment Programme, which kicked off at the end of 2016. Its Home Grown School Feeding component is now feeding more than 1 million primary school children across seven states and would be feeding three million by the end of the year. N-Power, another component has engaged 200,000 unemployed graduates – none of whom needed any ‘connections’ to be selected. Beneficiaries are already telling the stories of how these initiatives have given them a fresh start in their lives.

2. Micro credit to a million artisans, traders and market men and women has begun. While conditional cash transfers to eventually reach a million of the poorest and most vulnerable households has also begun.

3. Road and power projects are ongoing in every part of the country. In rail, we are making progress with our plans to attract hundreds of millions of dollars in investment to upgrade the existing 3,500km narrow-gauge network. We have also in 2017 flagged-off construction work on the Lagos-Ibadan leg of our standard-gauge network, and are close to completing the first phase of Abuja’s Mass Transit Rail System.

4. In that Budget speech in December, the President announced the take-off of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative. Today, five months on, that Initiative – the product of an unprecedented bilateral cooperation with the Government of Morocco – has resulted in the revitalisation of 11 blending plants across the country, the creation of 50,000 direct and indirect jobs so far, and in the production of 300,000 metric tonnes of NPK fertilizer, which is being sold to farmers at prices significantly lower than what they paid last year. By the end of 2017, that Fertilizer Initiative would have led to foreign exchange savings of US$200 million; and subsidy savings of 60 billion naira.

5. The Initiative is building on the solid gains of the Anchor Borrowers Programme, launched in 2015 to support our rice and wheat farmers, as part of our move towards guaranteeing food security for Nigeria.

6. All of this is evidence that we are taking very seriously our ambition of agricultural self-sufficiency. I am delighted to note that since 2015 our imports of rice have dropped by 90 percent, while domestic production has almost tripled. Our goal is to produce enough rice to meet local demand by 2019. In April, the President launched our Economic Recovery and Growth Plan which built on the foundations laid by the Strategic implementation Plan of 2016. The plan has set forth a clear vision for the economic development of Nigeria. I will come back to this point presently.

7. Another highlight of the President’s Budget Speech was our work around the Ease of Doing Business reforms. As promised we have since followed up with implementation and execution. I am pleased to note that we are now seeing verifiable progress across several areas, ranging from new Visa on Arrival scheme, to reforms at our ports and regulatory agencies.

8. The President also promised that 2017 would see the rollout of Executive Orders to facilitate government approvals, support procurement of locally made goods, and improve fiscal responsibility. We have kept that promise. This month we issued three Executive Orders to make it easier for citizens to get the permits and licenses they require for their businesses, to mandate Government agencies to spend more of their budgets on locally produced goods, and to promote budget transparency and efficiency. The overarching idea is to make Government Agencies and Government budgets work more efficiently for the people.

9. The impact of our Ease of Doing Business work is gradually being felt by businesses small and large; its successful take-off has allowed us to follow up with the MSME Clinics -our Small Business support programme, which has taken us so far to Aba, Sokoto, Jos, Katsina, and we expect to be in all other states in due course.

10. Let me note, at this point, that several of our Initiatives are targeted at our young people, who make up most of our population. From N-Power, to the Technology Hubs being developed nationwide, to innovation competitions such as the Aso Villa Demo Day, and our various MSME support schemes, we will do everything to nurture the immense innovative and entrepreneurial potential of our young people. We are a nation of young people, and we will ensure that our policies and programmes reflect this.

11. One of the highlights of our Power Sector Recovery Programme, which we launched in March, is a N701 billion Naira Payment Assurance Scheme that will resolve the financing bottlenecks that have until now constrained the operations of our gas suppliers and generation companies. Let me assure that you will soon begin to see the positive impact of these steps.

12. Our Solid Minerals Development Fund has also now taken off, in line with our commitment to developing the sector. Because of our unerring focus on Solid Minerals development over the last two years, the sector has, alongside Agriculture, seen impressive levels of growth – in spite of the recession.

13. On the whole, just as the President promised in the Budget Speech, these early months of 2017 have seen the flowering of the early fruit of all the hard work of our first eighteen months.

14. We opened the year with an overwhelmingly successful Eurobond Offer – evidence of continuing investor interest in Nigeria. We have also launched the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) 2017-2020, to build on the gains of last year’s Strategic Implementation Plan. And the implementation of our 2017 Budget, which will soon be signed into law, will bring added impetus to our ongoing economic recovery. In the 2016 Budget we spent 1.2 Trillion Naira on infrastructure projects, another milestone in the history of this country. Our 2017 Budget will double that investment.

15. That budget also provides for substantial investment to implement the rollout of Industrial Parks and Special Economic Zones (SEZs), as well as our Social Housing Programme. The Industrial Parks and Economic Zones will fulfill our ambition of making Nigeria a manufacturing hub, while the Family Home Fund of our Social Housing Programme will provide inexpensive mortgages for low-income individuals and families across the country.

16. These plans offer yet more evidence that we are ramping up the pace of work; the work of fulfilling all that we promised. In the next two years we will build on the successes of the last two. We have demonstrated a willingness to learn from our mistakes and to improve on our successes. The critical points that we must address fully in the next two years are : Agriculture and food security, Energy, (power and Petroleum,) Industrialization and Transport infrastructure. Every step of the way we will be working with the private sector, giving them the necessary incentives and creating an environment to invest and do business.

17. Our vision is for a country that grows what it eats and produces what it consumes. It is for a country that no longer has to import petroleum products, and develops a lucrative petrochemical industry. Very importantly it is for a country whose fortunes are no longer tied to the price of a barrel of crude, but instead to the boundless talent and energy of its people, young and old, male and female as they invest in diverse areas of the economy.

18. And that vision is also for a country where the wealth of the many will no longer be stolen by or reserved for a few; and where the impunity of corruption – whether in the public or private sectors – will no longer be standard operating practice; a land rid of bandits and terrorists.

19. As citizens you all deserve a country that works, not merely for the rich or connected, but for everyone. And our promise to you is that we will, with your support and cooperation, take every step needed to create that country of our dreams.

20. We also know that this journey will of necessity take time. But we will not succumb to the temptation to take short-cuts that ultimately complicate the journey. We did not find ourselves in crises overnight, and we simply do not expect overnight solutions to our challenges.

21. The most important thing is that we are on the right path, and we will not deviate from it, even in the face of strong temptation to choose temporary gain over long-term benefit. As the President has summed it up: “The old Nigeria is slowly but surely disappearing, and a new era is rising.”

22. And so we commemorate this second anniversary of our administration with confidence and optimism. I firmly believe that we have put the most difficult phase behind us; and we are witnesses to the ever-increasing intensity of the light at the end of the tunnel. We ask for your continued cooperation and support, to enable us realise all our best intentions and ambitions for Nigeria. On our part We will continue to carry you along on this journey, speak to you, explain the challenges, and share our Vision.

23. And while we all daily pre-occupy ourselves with pursuing the Nigerian Dream – which is the desire to better our lives and circumstances vigorously and honestly – it is inevitable that grievances and frustrations will arise from time to time.

24. This is normal. What is not normal, or acceptable, is employing these frustrations as justification for indulging in discrimination or hate speech or hateful conduct of any kind, or for seeking to undermine by violent or other illegal means the very existence of the sovereign entity that has brought us all together as brothers and sisters and citizens.

25. Nigeria belongs to all of us. No one person or group of persons is more important or more entitled than the other in this space that we all call home. And we have a responsibility to live in peace and harmony with one another, to seek peaceful and constitutional means of expressing our wishes and desires, and to resist all who might seek to sow confusion and hatred for their own selfish interests.

26. Before I end this speech, let me ask for your continued prayers for the restoration to full health and strength and the safe return of our President.

27. I congratulate all of you on today’s commemoration of this important day in the democratic calendar our country. Nigeria is on a journey of greatness, and together we shall arrive at the destination of our dreams.

28. May God bless you all, and bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Igbo Youths Launch Anti-biafra Movement, Slam Nnamdi Kanu

A youth group, under the aegis of Igbo for Nigerian Movement, INM, has floated anti-Biafra campaign to unite people of Igbo extraction in order to reap maximum benefits from the peaceful co-existence of one United Nigeria.

IINM called on the entire Ndigbo to bury the idea of the struggle of the Republic of Biafra and embrace the new platform, INM for intellectual and strategic engagements that would enthrone equity, fairness and justice to every member of the Nigerian State.

The group warned that the ongoing clamour by some persons for the secession of Igbo from Nigeria was a call to self-destruction and would only do them more harm than good.

Some groups, including the Nnamdi Kanu-led Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, as well as the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra, under the leadership of Uchenna Madu have been clamoring for the birth of Biafra.

According to them, Nigeria is a zoo and has succeeded in expunging them from the scheme of things in the nation.

However, the INM leader, Maxi Igwe Ifeanyi speaking alongside with his newly inaugurated Excos with our correspondent on Sunday, called on those supporting the return of Biafra to quickly swallow their word and work together for a united Nigeria in line with the vision of great nationalists like Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe.

Mazi Ifeanyi Igwe, the group’s leader in his interview, insisted that Biafra was not the panacea to Igbos’ problem, rather the beginning of more trouble for the land as the agitation has continue to sow the seed of suspicion for the average Igboman particularly in the political circle used by other ethnic groups as the key to other segment of our national life.

He said, “The ongoing clamour by some infertile-minded Igbo brethren for the secession of South east from Nigeria is a call to self-destruction, to say the least.

“It is obvious that those championing the movement for the return of Biafra were not born during the civil war and have no single idea of what Ndigbo went through during and after the war.

“We therefore call on those behind this movement to sheathe their sword and embrace a one and united Nigeria.

“Biafra is never the solution to our problem. In fact, it is the beginning of more problems for our already-troubled land.

“INM stands for the unity of Nigeria and urge those beating war drum to heed to the old Igbo adage that says, “ogwumagana agahi ogbanye ije ya maka na ohia n’ere oku (the chameleon does not change its movement because the bush is on fire.)” he added.

Nigerian Drug Dealer Shot Dead As Indonesia Police Bust Malaysia Drug Ring (See Details)

A Nigerian drug dealer has been shot dead in Indonesia. The deceased was a member of a Malaysian-based drug ring with another Nigerian national and a Tanzanian woman.
They were nabbed in their attempts to smuggle marijuana and crystal methamphetamine into Indonesia.
The National Police Chief, General Tito Karnavian, weekend, confirmed the arrests and death to newsmen at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.
According to him, customs officials at the airport arrested the Tanzanian woman as she arrived from Kuala Lumpur in the early hours of Wednesday, January 4th.
He said the officials confiscated 138 grams of crystal meth hidden in 20 capsules and three grams of marijuana tucked into her underpants, and 66 more capsules of crystal meth that she had swallowed, adding that the police and Customs officials have foiled 673 drug smuggling attempts into Indonesia between 2014 and 2017, and seized more than 2,000 kilograms of drugs.
Also confirming the arrests, Customs and Excise director general Heru Pambudi said: “We arrested the woman after conducting data screening.
“The Tanzanian woman had traveled to Indonesia on her boyfriend’s instructions, a Uganda national in Malaysia.
“Customs officials later teamed up with police officers to arrest two Nigerian men who were going to receive the drugs from the woman at a restaurant in Central Jakarta.
“Both men were allegedly part of the Malaysia-based drug ring.
“They resisted the police’s attempt to arrest them and tried to flee the scene, prompting officers to shoot.

‘More Chibok Girls Will Return Soon’- President Buhari Promises

President Muhammadu Buhari has reaffirmed his commitment towards securing the release of all the schoolgirls Boko Haram insurgents abducted in Chibok, Borno State.
Commemorating the 1,000 days of the girls abduction, Buhari assured that his government would not spare any effort to reunite the girls with their families.
In a statement by his Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina on Sunday, the President assured affected parents of reuniting with their daughters as soon as possible.
The statement made available to DAILY POST quoted Buhari as saying, “We are grateful to God that on this landmark day, we are not completely in the depths of despair, but buoyed with hope that our daughters will yet rejoin their families and loved ones.
“Three of them have been recovered by our diligent military, while the freedom of 21 others was secured through engagement with their captors. We are hopeful that many more will still return as soon as practicable.
“I salute the fortitude of the distraught parents. As a parent also, I identify with their plight. Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months, months turned to years, and today, it is 1,000 days. The tears never dry, the ache is in our hearts. But hope remains constant, eternal, and we believe our pains will be assuaged.
“Our hopes will not be shattered, and our hearts will leap for joy, as more and more of our daughters return. It is a goal we remain steadfastly committed to.”
The President commended all who have been in the vanguard for the recovery of the girls, both nationally and internationally.
“Someday soon, we will all rejoice together. Our intelligence and security forces are unrelenting, and whatever it takes, we remain resolute.
” Chibok community, Nigeria, and, indeed, the world, will yet rise in brotherhood, to welcome our remaining girls back home. We trust God for that eventuality.”
Recall that over 200 schoolgirls were abducted by Boko Haram sect in 2014.
Since their abduction, the Federal government has been able to secure the release of some of the girls while others were discovered by the military during mop up operations in the North East.

Federal Government Pays Former Niger Delta Militants Two Months Salary

Former Niger Delta militants in Bayelsa state have been paid two out of the four months outstanding salaries owed them by the Federal Government.
The Federal Government has paid two out of the four months outstanding stipends owed former Niger Delta militants under the Presidential Amnesty Programme.
Mr Ramsey Mukoro, leader of the 3rd phase of the amnesty programme, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday that some former agitators had received two out of four months’ salary backlog.
“The Amnesty Office has started paying but my third phase people have yet to get alerts, we are hoping that we in the third phase will benefit as well.
“It has really been difficult for us and we spend Christmas and New Year on empty stomach, they should try and make it go round,’’ Mukoro said.
Mr Piriye Kiyaramo, the Liaison Officer at the Bayelsa Office of the Presidential Amnesty Office, told NAN that the Amnesty office began the payment after the new year holidays.
“The office commenced payment of the outstanding stipends this week after the new year, precisely on Wednesday.
“The Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, retired Brig.- General Paul Boroh is concerned about the welfare of beneficiaries in the programme.
“He would stop at nothing until a sustainable reintegration of the ex-agitators into the society with sustainable source of livelihood,’’ he said in a statement.

Governor Nyesom Wike Comes To The Aid Of Dismissed Police Officers

The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, on Saturday, declared that the government and people of the state would not abandon the six policemen that were  dismissed by the Police High Command, Punch reports.

According to the Governor, the police officers were dismissed for political reasons. He insisted that they did not commit any crime known to law.

He pointed out that the government and people of Rivers State would pursue the matter through laid down legal processes.

The affected police personnel are ex-Inspector Eyong Victor, ex-Sergeant Peter Ekpo, Oguni Goodluck, Orji Nwoke, Okpe Ezekiel and Tanko Akor.

The governor spoke in Ahoada East Local Government Area during the defection of former chieftain of the All Progressives Congress and ex-chairman of the council, Mr. Cassidy Ikegbidi.

He said, “They gave me policemen for my protection, but before I knew it, they have dismissed them. They think they are punishing them, but Rivers State will stand with them forever.

“By the time we finish, they will realise that they have favoured the so-called dismissed policemen. In Rivers State, we don’t abandon people. No amount of intimidation will make me abandon these innocent policemen.

“The policemen committed no offence. Simply because they followed their boss, they said they should be dismissed.

“They want to discourage policemen from protecting me. For me, I am not worried. I am a village man and a grass-roots politician. Before you kill me, you would have killed so many people.”

Adding his voice to the drama, the national caretaker committee of the Peoples Democratic Party has called for the reinstatement of the six policemen.

Spokesperson for the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led caretaker committee, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, said the offense adduced for their secret trial and subsequent dismissal was a mere concoction and a ruse.

Adeyeye said, “The hurried dismissal of these policemen is another valid pointer to the pre-election rigging plans and the assassination attempt on Governor Wike by the All Progressives Congress-led administration before the December 10, 2016 rerun elections in Rivers State.

“It will be recalled that the Nigeria Police Force withdrew over 70 per cent of its personnel deployed to Rivers State Government House and the Chief Security Officer to the governor few days to the elections.

“It is obvious by this latest action that the APC-led administration after the failed assassination attempt on Wike decided to punish the six police officers who defended their oath of office and job ethics by refusing to carry out the hatchet plans.”

After Enoch Adeboye Stepped Down, Oyedepo, Olukoya, Kumuyi And Others To Follow

It was a mixture of surprise and anxiety on Saturday for ministers in the Redeemed Christian Church of God when the respected cleric and General Overseer of the church, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, announced a new leader for the church arm in Nigeria.

Adeboye made the declaration at the church’s Annual Ministers Thanksgiving held at the Redemption Camp in Ogun State.

Adeboye’s story: From lecture hall to global pulpit

SUNDAY PUNCH gathered that Adeboye started his speech at the service by telling the stunned ministers that he initiated a pension scheme for the church’s retired full-time pastors that would enable them earn 100 per cent of their salaries as pension.

He reportedly said that government had been meddling with the affairs of churches in Nigeria and he had to discontinue with the scheme when the government introduced a contributory pension scheme which the church later joined.

Ministers present at the gathering told one of our correspondents that Adeboye said the government also interfered in the administration of the church by stipulating mandatory office tenure for general overseers of all registered churches in the country through a regulation.

He noted that this regulation also extended to clergymen like Bishop David Oyedepo of the Living Faith Church Worldwide International aka Winners Chapel, Pastor W.F. Kumuyi of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry and Bishop Mike Okonkwo of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission, among others.

 

It’s a big surprise – RCCG members

FRC regulation

It was gathered that the Financial Regulations Council had stipulated a maximum period of 20 years for the heads of all registered churches, mosques, and civil society organisations.

The FRC established by the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria Act, No. 6, 2011, under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, is responsible for, among other things, developing and publishing accounting and financial reporting standards to be observed in the preparation of financial statements of public entities in Nigeria; and for related matters.

Governance Code 2016 of the Act encompasses three sectors: the private, the public and not-for-profit. It is the not-for-profit sector, sometimes referred to as the Benevolent Sector, the Third Sector or the Civil Society Sector, that religious bodies fall under.

 

Obayemi: RCCG’s new ‘Daddy GO’

 The code read in part, “The founder or leader of a NFPO (not-for-profit) occupies a special position in the organisation 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 organisation or have an indefinite term in the running of the organisation.

“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 organisation’s financial year in which this code takes effect.

“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.

 

“The founder or leader may however choose – subject to the agreement of the organisation’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 organisation between the running of the governing body and the executive responsibility for the management and fulfilment of the organisation’s mission.

“Where the founder or leader has occupied all or any of these three governance positions for more than twenty years, or is aged seventy years or above, the choice in the section above should only relate to the board of trustees as in section below, except the constitution of the organisation otherwise provides.’’

 

SUNDAY PUNCH learnt that apart from Adeboye, the law would cause leadership changes in other churches, where their general overseers had spent more than 20 years in that capacity.

Kumuyi, Oyedepo, Olukoya, others to follow

Some of the general overseers to be affected by the regulation include Dr. Daniel Kolawole Olukoya  of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, who has spent 22 years as the general overseer; Bishop Mike Okonkwo of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (35 years); Pastor Kumuyi  (43 years); Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor of Word of Life Bible Church (29 years); Rev. Chris Okotie  of the Household of God ( 29 years);  Kingsway International Christian Centre’s Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo (24 years);  Winners Chapel’s  Bishop David Oyedepo (35 years).

Others are Pastor Chris Oyakhilome  of Believers’ LoveWord International (26 years); Pastor Samuel Abiara of Christ Apostolic Church (39 years); Pastor Sam Adeyemi  of Daystar Christian Centre (21 years);  Pastor Tunde Bakare of Latter Rain Assembly (27 years);  House on the Rock’s Pastor Paul Adefarasin (22 years), among others.

When contacted by one of our correspondents, the Public Relations Officer of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry, Mr. Segun Babatope, declined to speak on whether Pastor Kumuyi would also step down like Pastor Adeboye did.

 

He referred our correspondent to the church secretary, who also declined to speak on the matter.

Babatope said, “I cannot speak on behalf of the church. We are not fully aware of what Pastor Adeboye said and we cannot comment on rumours.”

Also, calls made to the mobile of Rev. Chris Okotie were not answered. He did not also reply the text message sent to his mobile as of press time.

Similarly, when contacted on Saturday, one of Pastor Olukoya’s media aides, Mr. Idowu Ajanaku, did not respond to calls made to his mobile phone, neither did he respond to the text message our correspondent sent to him.

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Dele Adesina, who is an ally of Bishop David Oyedepo, told SUNDAY PUNCH that he needed to read the FRC’s code to give “an informed opinion” on the issue.

How the ministers’ meeting ended

Sources said after his speech at the meeting, Adeboye introduced Pastor Joseph Obayemi as the ‘new overseer’ of the church, Funsho Odesola as the new church secretary and Joseph Adeyokunu as the new church treasurer.

Adeboye reportedly said, ‘‘At least, nobody can stop me from being a general overseer in other countries of the world.’’

By the pronouncement, Adeboye ceases to be the General Overseer of the RCCG in Nigeria while he remains the church’s spiritual leader worldwide and general overseer of its international arm. The church has branches in about 190 countries.

SUNDAY PUNCH learnt that the clerics, who were newly appointed into key positions in the church, were not allowed to speak to the gathering. But Adeboye asked the ministers to pray for them and he also did the same.

A statement reportedly issued by Odesola after the meeting stressed that the new structure was particular to Nigeria alone as Adeboye remained the spiritual leader and global missioner of the church.

Before now, there had been expectations in the church that Adeboye would name a successor after he clocked 70 — the stipulated retirement age by the church.

In a statement credited to Leke Adeboye, Adeboye’s last son and personal assistant, he cited the FRC’s law as the reason for the church’s decision, adding, however, that Adeboye remained the General Overseer of RCCG worldwide.

Adeboye is now 74. He became the church’s general overseer in 1981 after taking over from the church’s founder, Pa Josiah Akindayomi.

Our correspondent gathered that at the service, Adeboye asked the ministers to tell all members in their parishes to join any political party of their choice.

The revered cleric noted that by joining political parties, they would be able to partake in the making of vital political decisions at the ward level in order for the country to have good representation.

He also noted that their involvement in politics would check imposition of candidates.

Lawyers’ speak on FRC regulation

Speaking with one of our correspondents, a human rights activist and lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, who commented on the FRC law, said churches, mosques and other not-for-profit organisations, as long as they are registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission, were bound by the new financial regulation targeted at ensuring financial transparency and seamless succession.

Adegboruwa who is also an RCCG pastor, said, “The plan of succession must not be to the benefit of a family member. By law, churches are called incorporated churches with a board of trustees. It cannot be run by a family. Pastor Adeboye, of his volition, decided to obey the regulation by handing over to a successor. I must also state that the confusion being created by some people that Pastor Adeboye is the general overseer of the RCCG Worldwide is unnecessary. There is no such organisation as the Redeemed Christian Church of God Worldwide. He is the Global Missioner and Spiritual Leader of the Church. There is nothing like RCCG Worldwide.’’

There were reports on Saturday that the Federal Government had suspended the not-for-profit governance code of 2016. The human rights activist and lawyer explained that the law was suspended in relation to the public sector and not for organisations like churches and mosques.

He said, “There was a stakeholders’ meeting where churches, mosques and civil society organisations met with the government. We actually challenged the regulation at the Federal High Court and we lost. We decided to comply with the regulation because we didn’t want the government to see Christians as people who do not want to follow a seamless succession system. We also do not want government to see us as people who have something to hide about their finances. The RCCG is a transparent organisation and that’s why it decided to comply.

“This (regulation) is not just about Pastor Adeboye. It concerns all the churches registered in Nigeria. Any church leader who has spent 20 years has to hand over to somebody else.”

Also, Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Jiti Ogunye, stated that the agency’s regulation for religious organisations was still in force.

Another legal practitioner, Moses Alao, told SUNDAY PUNCH that the FRC regulation provides that a religious leader of a registered religious organisation should step down after 20 years in office or on attainment of  age 70.

He said, “Whichever comes first, it is either the religious leader has turned 70 or has spent 20 years or more as the head of the organisation, he has to go. The person will stop being involved in administrative issues of the religious organisation. He will only be a figure head with no real authority. Pastor Adeboye, in the case of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, will still be the spiritual figure head but there will be a general overseer (a position he had relinquished).’’