RCCG denies that Adeboye met with Tinubu or plans to endorse his candidacy for president

NIGERIA'S Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) has denied that its general overseer Pastor Enoch Adeboye has endorsed the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

RCCG is Nigeria's largest church and like most other evangelical churches, it is very wealthy as a result of the tithes it collects from its members. Pastor Adeboye, 80, has an estimated net worth of between $65m and $80m and is very influential across Nigeria thanks to the large following he commands.

Of late, Asiwaju Tinubu has attracted the wrath of Nigeria's Christian faithful after picking a fellow Muslim as his running mate. Earlier this month, after weeks of prevarication, Asiwaju Tinubu, himself a Muslim, ended up selecting a fellow Muslim in former Borno State governor Senator Kashim Shettima.

His choice has polarised the country as the Christian faithful feel highly marginalised and already, several senior party members have left the APC over the matter. To assuage this anger, Asiwaju Tinubu is seeking to court Christian leaders like Pastor Adeboye and reports emerged yesterday saying that the two men met.

However, the RCCG has issued a robust denial, saying that the two mean have not met and at no stage did Pastor Adeboye endorse the candidacy of Asiwaju Tinubu. According to the RCCG there is not truth in the rumour that the two men met at the church's Redemption Camp premises in Ogun State.

An RCCG spokesman said: “It has come to our notice that some news outlets are reporting that a meeting Between Pastor EA Adeboye, the general overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God Worldwide and the former governor of Lagos State, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was held a few days back at the Redemption Camp where our esteemed father in the Lord was said to have supported the preferred candidature of the party the former governor is a member of. This is to inform the general public that Pastor EA Adeboye is under the authority of God, the Christian Association of Nigeria and the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria and as such, will not speak on behalf of Christians on issues regarding policies.”

“Pastor E A Adeboye and the RCCG have not and will not endorse any candidate for the 2023 general elections in Nigeria. News outlets should desist from spreading false information about Pastor EA. Adeboye and the RCCG, as it defeats the code and ethics of journalism and the full weight of the law will be employed if such happens in future.

“The general overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor E A Adeboye, did not hold any closed-door meeting with Mr Bola Tinubu for support of any sort.”