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Pastor Enoch Adeboye’s controversial retirement as the general overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God triggers nationwide debate on whether the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria wants to undermine the leadership of religious organisation or not
| By Olu Ojewale | Jan 23, 2017 @ 01:00 GMT |
IT is common knowledge that religion is a very touchy issue in Nigeria, where everyone struggles to protect their faith. Religious matter is also so pervasive that the more government tries to distance itself from it the more it is drawn into it. Little wonder, the recent controversy over the application of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, FRC, Act 2011 code on tenure of religion leaders has taken the centre-stage in the past week and it appears there is no sign of it stopping soon.
The issue became hotly debated in the country following the tardy triple announcement on the retirement of Pastor Enoch Adeboye as the general overseer, GO, of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, his successor and his re-assignment as the GO Worldwide of his church. The argument is that Adeboye’s retirement was triggered by the controversial FRC code, which among others, sets a-20-year tenure for heads of religious groups and civil rights organisations. Such leaders are required to hand over the affairs of their respective organisations to successors in line with the corporate governance principles.
Jim Obazee, former executive Secretary of the FRC, had, in December, issued the code it referred to as the “National Code of Corporate Governance for the Private Sector in Nigeria 2016” claiming it became effective from October 17, 2016.
This was apparently in disregard to directive given by Okechukwu Enelamah, minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, on October 17, 2016, asking for the suspension of the code.
The Nigerian Corporate Governance Code would also have forced changes in the board structure of so many companies, especially those in the financial sector of the economy.
Apparently in compliance with the code, Adeboye on Saturday, January 7, resigned as the head of the church in Nigeria. He named Pastor Joseph Obayemi as the overseer of the church in Nigeria and while he took on the new title of General Overseer, RCCG, worldwide.
The reaction that followed the action was spontaneous like a wildfire, which rocked the whole Christendom in Nigeria. It was also greeted with various interpretations, including insinuations that the federal government was attempting to meddle in the affairs of religious bodies, using the FRC. Proponents of this idea would like point out that the code would afford the federal government to get rid of religious leaders such as Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, controversial head of the Shi’a Islamic Movement in Nigeria, who has been at the helm of the organisation for more than 30 years. El-Zakzacky who has been in the custody of the Department of State Security, DSS, since December 2014, when his group had a collision with the Nigerian Army. The military reportedly killed 347 members of the movement.
Although a federal high court has pronounced his arrest and detention as illegal and, therefore, ordered his release since last month, the religious leader is yet to be freed.
As if that is not bad enough, there is an ongoing crisis in the Southern Zaria, Kaduna State, where a large number of the Christian community of different denominations has been displaced since last month. The crisis must have apparently alienated some religious bodies and followers from the Buhari administration.
Perhaps, sensing the negative impact that will have on his government, President Muhammadu Buhari swiftly reacted to Adeboye’s action on Monday, January 8, by sacking Obazee. According to a statement by Garba Shehu, his senior special assistant on Media and Publicity, Buhari approved the sacking and the replacement of Obazee by Daniel Asapokhai. The statement also constituted a board for the Council with Adedotun Sulaiman as chairman.
Prior to the time of his removal, it was learnt that Enelamah had queried the former FRC boss, asking him to provide among others the regulatory approach that guides the Code; the clear conflict between provisions of the Code and the Legislation, which gave birth to the FRC Act, 2011. Besides, the FRC was also asked to provide evidence of the adoption of the Code by the Board of the Council and the minutes of the meeting at which the Code was adopted by the Board.
Among other questions raised, the FRC was to tell the federal government whether the committee on Corporate Governance, in Section 51 of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria Act, 2011, empowered to issue the Code of Corporate Governance, is in a position to act in the absence of the Board of the Council in the light of provisions of Sections 2 (1) and 10 (d) of the Act.
The FRC Act, No. 6, 2011, 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.
The FRA Act states inter alia: “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 a 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 fulfillment of the organisation’s mission.
“Where the founder or leader has occupied all or any of these three governance positions for more than 20 years, or is aged 70 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.’’
Based on the FRC Act, Adeboye would have been affected by the law having succeeded Josiah Akindayomi, as GO in 1981. Besides, Adeboye is also more than 70 years old.
Besides, some other stakeholders affected by the FRC Act 2011, actually believe that Obazee overreached himself in pushing out the law. They said he was actually warned about the backlash of going ahead with the implementation of the Act. “We warned him severally about putting a ceiling on the tenure of religious leaders, but he wouldn’t listen. The former was too full of himself and thought he could do whatever he likes. In fact, we are actually about to go to court on the issue,” Olasupo Ojo, a legal adviser to one of the affected churches, said in an interview.
Ojo said based on the criticisms against the code, it was suspended by the government and that it was Obazee that brought it out, thereby causing the current debate. He said the only way out of the quagmire as suggested by the federal government is to take another look at the code, especially as it relates to tenure of spiritual leaders of the churches. “Religious leaders are chosen based on theocracy and their tenure cannot be determined by any government,” he argued.
Similarly, Musa Asake, a reverend, and general secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, commended Buhari for quickly removing Obazee in an interview: “The sack of Jim is good riddance to bad rubbish… Jim got to the position by the grace of God but set out to probe and destroy the church of God. I spoke with him several times on this issue but he wouldn’t listen. He was going to take the church to what is worse than Armageddon.
“That code should be thrown out completely because government should not interfere with the church. The church is a no-go zone for the government. Doing that has serious implications. If they attempt it, it will lead to confusion in the nation.”
On his part, Felix Omobude, national president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, in a statement, said it had consistently expressed its concern “at the non-inclusive process that brought about the code and the all-pervasive nature of it, especially as it relates to activities of the not-for-profit sector, whose activities are already regulated by provisions of the law under which they were registered.” The Fellowship said that in view of the inability of the FRC to get the cooperation of concerned stakeholders on the code of governance it was wrong for it to have proceeded to enforce its implementation.
On his part, Kwamkur Samuel, national director, Legal and Public Affairs, CAN, argued that a similar law, which compelled churches in Nigeria to surrender their mission schools, built by missionaries and churches to government, were introduced and implemented,, and that with time destroyed the mission schools.
Samuel said: “From the look of the law, it seems to have been enacted with a good motive to regulate the excesses of not-for-profit organisations in Nigeria and ensure prudent management of offices and resources.
“But in practical terms, we feel strongly that the law is targeted at weakening the church in Nigeria and ensure that the generals of the church, who have the vision of developing the church, are pulled off to make churches and members vulnerable to attacks. It is difficult for the church to keep quiet on such laws.”
Monday Ubani, a human rights lawyer, agreed that it was wrong for any government to regulate the tenure of religious leaders. “Where I want them to focus is on the accounting system. If you are going into other business let us see your account. But asking them to step aside after 20 years is not a business of government,” Ubani said.
But Moffat Ekoriko, publisher of NewsAfrica magazine, in his Facebook post, said that rather than castigate Obazee, he should be commended for trying to enforce the law that has been made six years ago and not implemented. Ekoriko argued: “The country made a law more than six years ago. If that law was not what the country needed, the proper course was to repeal or even amend it. If this did not happen, no one can fault Mr Obaeze for enforcing it. Many times in Nigeria, we talk about building strong institutions. This can only be achieved if those tasked with such institutions enforce the statutes which set them up. By sacking a man for doing his job, we have sent a wrong message to other public office holders that they are on their own in enforcing the laws of the land.”
Ekoriko wondered that if the law had caused the resignation of a lesser mortal other than Adeboye whether Obazee would have lost his job.
He also asked whether the law actually went through the rigours at the National Assembly before being passed into law and what Christians in assembly were doing if it were inimical to their interest before it was passed.
“The fourth point is the relationship between the state and religion. Many times, we have bent the rules to create the fact that religion is not subject to regulation by the state. It is the problem we have with the enforcement of sharia law in Nigeria, a secular state. If we want the Nigerian state to be subject to sharia and canon laws, we should so state in our constitution. If not, religious institutions should be subject to the laws of the land. No country which made religion the directing principle of state policy has ever progressed,” Ekoriko said.
The publisher also has an advice for the church before throwing away all together, he said: “The church is resisting regulation but if they are not careful what happened to journalism will happen to the church. In the early 1990s, Tony Momoh, a celebrated Nigerian journalist became the minister for information. He came up with a law to regulate the operations of the media Nigeria especially by stipulating minimum entry levels for professional practice. Journalists rose against the man. The argument then was that the press can regulate itself. Three decades later, the social media came in and all someone needs to create a news media platform is a N10,000 mobile phone. Today, you see people who call themselves journalists in Nigeria and you are ashamed to be one. We are living witnesses to what is happening to the pentecostal church. We need some form of regulation. In the UK, the churches register as charities and are subject to all kinds of rules. In Nigeria, our churches are personal business empires trading on vulnerable minds.
“My suggestion is that we create structures for the church and separate the offices of spiritual leader from that of the organisation’s chief executive.”
In a similar argument, Tunde Asaju, a newspaper columnist, said the government was in order to regulate activities of churches in the country. He wrote that if the law was a legal could it was overdue and a welcome one, arguing: “Now this is a backbreaking but absolutely needed caveat to prevent almighty G.O’s and Mummy G.O’s, Spiritual Primates and almighty Bishops from instituting dynasties in the business of God.”
Besides, he noted that Nigerian “churches are so rich they could pay off our country’s debt and still remain solvent. Yet, the impact of these charities on poverty eradication even among their own members is absolutely tokenist.”
Therefore, Asaju said it would be interesting how much the likes of the RCCG and other mega-churches have declared in the past 10 or more years and how much taxes they have “paid for the non-soul-winning arm of its conglomerate such as its established schools, recording businesses, sales of tapes, CDs and VCDs and taking of rents from businesses owned and run within its premises.
“The other is who is paying tithes and offerings; how much they are paying and what is the source of their revenue to justify those payments.”
He also argued that reason churches should be subject to scrutiny is because Jesus fulfilled his personal and religious doctrine by paying taxes to the secular state of his time. “This is found in Matthew 17:24-27 and Matthew 22:15-22 to quote just a few. The ancillary income made by religious bodies in this planet is not to be spent in heaven but for the betterment of the life of the living. Paul the Apostle, who wrote a substantial chunk of the New Testament, had a day job to pay his way.
“It is hypocritical when publicly or sometimes missionary-schooled GOs, Bishops and Spiritual fathers are proprietors and vice chancellors of schools and universities that 98 percent of their congregation cannot send their children. Making churches accountable is spot on. But the act must be amended to make sure that religious outfits become even more accountable. We cannot send people to heaven who live large on the earth without fulfilling their public responsibility to the state.
What we wait to hear from Obazee is that the remaining 23,127 registered churches that are yet to bring their accounts up to par with the law are made put under lock and key until they can be accountable. We should insist that these organizations publish their accounts for full member and public access. There should be a peg on what and how much a GO or Bishop could accept as gifts lest half of the income is willed to them to buy private jets and launder on ponzi schemes by the coalition of board members who are usually children and wives of the overall boss. Christ was a living example, it’s time his adherents follow his footsteps,” Asaju wrote.
From the standpoint of all the arguments raised by the churches, the only area of dispute with the FRC Act is on tenure of leadership of religious organisations.
On the financial discipline, Ojo said the churches had been complying with financial regulations by forwarding copies of their audited accounts to the FRC annually. According to the lawyer, the FRC code on financial report is to help to ensure that financial discipline is maintained in the business sides of the church as a separate entity from the church as spiritual and non-profit organisation. Ojo said a good number of churches have been given audited reports of their business ventures to the FRC for scrutiny.
Tunde Bakare, general overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly, while commending Adeboye for his action, said that he was never served any notice by the FRC. “What I did when the issue was raised was that I called our external auditor and in-house accountant to go and meet them. They checked our books and they felt a proper corporate governance is in Latter Rain. I’m a trained lawyer and I try to be law abiding, but that is not to say that any of the people mentioned had not been law abiding,” Bakare said.
Actually, Obazee acknowledged that only 89 out of the 23,216 registered churches had complied with the financial regulations of the law.
As the dust raised by the controversy continued on its flight, the House of Representatives added a new insight into the matter. On Wednesday, January 11, the legislators denied knowledge of the law and ordered a “detailed” public hearing on the activities of the FRC, particularly the council’s decision to fix the tenure of the leadership of religious organisations.
The House passed the resolution on Wednesday in Abuja, at a session which was presided over by Yakubu Dogara, speaker, following a motion brought by Leo Ogor, minority leader of the House.
The lawmakers said that no agency of the federal government was empowered by any law passed by the National Assembly to determine how many years a religious leader should serve in office. They insisted that the FRC Act 2011 did not make provision for the tenure of office of religious bodies or non-profit organisations.
While leading the debate, Ogor said he was amazed where the FRC got its powers. In performing its duties, he said that the FRC should have to restrict itself to accountability, transparency and probity in pursuing corporate governance principles in public and private organisations.
Given the way President Buhari removed Obazee from office and now the denial of the law by the House of Representatives, it appears that the former secretary of the FRC has been sacrificed on the altar of political correctness as the projection towards 2019 is gradually becoming crystal clear.
Political observers have noticed that President Buhari, who was recently accused of trying to Islamise the country, would desperately not like to be seen in such light, especially if he still aims to be president after 2019. He needs the vote of millions of Christians across the country to win another term in office.
Ubani said: “We are very religious here. Almost everyone that assumes any position of leadership come from one religion or the other. Is either you are a Christian or Muslim. You hardly see those who don’t have what they worship. It is very possible but it is very important you understand that a man is a spiritual being. If you are going into politics, you are going into national office there is no way you can put God aside. You have to carry the God in you to show people that this is what the God you are serving has asked you to be. The only problem is hypocrisy that is all over in Africa especially in Nigeria.
“The issue is that since Nigeria is a secular state we must know how we handle religious issues. What I mean is that you don’t go about that people must believe your religion because whatever you believe is private but what people want to see is the God in you in action not even in words.”
That notwithstanding, for Buhari to have a chance in 2019, he will need the support of both Christians and Muslims. It is a known fact that the RCCG played an important role in his election in 2015 because Yemi Osinbajo, the current vice president, was a senior pastor of the church and he was able to galvanise members to vote for him. Those votes are also going to count in 2019 if Buhari wants another term. However, the way the FRC issue is resolved will be crucial for the way the Christian community will vote in 2019.
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