'War' over controversial law that reportedly prompted Adeboye’s 'retirement'

- There are indications that there is friction between the minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah and the executive secretary of the Financial Regulatory Council of Nigeria (FRCN) over the retirement of Pastor Adeboye

- The minister and FRCN boss have been reportedly trading blames on the shocking development

- Adeboye had recently announced his retirement from the Nigerian arm of the church over what he called government regulations

The minister of industry, trade and investment Okechukwu Enelamah and the executive secretary of the Financial Regulatory Council of Nigeria (FRCN) Jim Obazee are said to currently be in a cold war over the ‘retirement’ of Pastor Adeboye from the Nigerian arm of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG).

The alleged friction, according to The Punch, stemmed from the FRCN’s regulation which stipulates 20 years tenure ‎for heads of religious groups and civil society groups in the Nigeria and which has allegedly forced the retirement of Adeboye.

READ ALSO: Pastors reject new tenure law

According to Pastor Adeboye, the regulation would also affect clerics like Bishop David Oyedepo of the Living Faith Church Worldwide aka Winners Chapel; Pastor W. F. Kumuyi of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry and Bishop Mike Okonkwo of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission.

Punch reports that the minister had reportedly written the FRCN boss asking him not to implement the controversial regulation but Obazee refused the instruction of the minister.

FRCN boss insisted that the implementation of the regulation would go ahead.

According to the report, the minister’s letter to the FRCN boss was written on October 17, 2016.

A source in the ministry of industry, trade and investment, who confided in The Punch, confirmed the directive from the minister in respect of the regulation.

He said: “There is an issue with the new code of corporate governance and the minister wrote the Financial Reporting Council and told the council not to execute it because a lot of people from the private sector have complained about it.

“So, the minister wanted to look into it and see what the issues were. He (FRCN boss) was asked not to go ahead with executing it. There is a controversy on that FRCN issue and we are now looking into the matter to know what the issues are before we can finally take a decision. This is where the matter is currently.”

READ ALSO: I was saved by a witch - Pastor Adeboye

On the other hand, another insider within the FRCN argued that the organisation would not heed the directive of the minister on the code.

The source also stated that: “The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment wrote a letter to us saying that he didn’t want the code to be effective now and that he wanted it to be suspended for now.

“But you know in government circles, particularly in the public sector, when you are suspending something, you back it up with a paper – a gazette and all of that, but as it is now, there is no gazette.

“It must have a gazette, indicating that the law has been suspended. There is no gazette to that effect that this law has been suspended. So as it is now, the code has not been suspended because there is no gazette to that effect and that is where we are now.

“The code has been on naturally, right from (ex-President Goodluck) Jonathan’s time and this has been over four years. When the code was being done, we engaged all the stakeholders and their presentations formed part of what was in the code at the end of the day.

“The only people that took the matter to court were the churches and they lost. It was on the day they lost that our legal adviser said ‘okay, we could go ahead and release the code and that if we don’t release this code, other bodies will go to court to challenge it’.

“The private sector came to us three weeks ago and they told us the sections they wanted amended and we told them that we will look at it when we are doing what we call fine-tuning.”

“The code is still on as it stands now. All the banks are complying with the codes. If it has been suspended, why are they complying with it. The churches don’t want it and that was why they went to court and they have lost.

“So, the law is still in force. Mr. President is aware of this issue and he has not issued any directive to stop the law.”

Meanwhile, pastors have rejected the new Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) law which specifically limited the tenure of general overseers of churches to 20 years or 70 years of age.

According to them, it is wrong for anybody to make attempts in regulating activities of churches in the country.

Source: Legit.ng