Pastor Adeboye announced he was stepping down as head of the church in Nigeria in line with a proposed Corporate Governance Code.
Pastor Adeboye referred to the governance code as he announced his decision to give up the position on Saturday, church leaders who attended the session, said.
The code, proposed in May 2015, limits the number of years heads of corporate organisations can stay in office. It is mandatory for the private sector.
The Code of Governance for Not-for-Profit entities is “Comply or Justify non-compliance.”
It is under the Not-for-Profit category that churches like the RCCG come under.
The code was later suspended, reportedly after the Attorney General, Abubakar Malami, opposed its implementation.
While announcing the governance code in October 2016, the Financial Reporting Council, FRC, had said it would take effect from October 17, 2016.
FRC said, “In accordance with Section 50 of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria Act, 2011, which among other things requires the Directorate of Corporate Governance to develop the principles and practices of Corporate Governance applicable in Nigeria, the Council hereby releases the National Code of Corporate Governance effective 17th October 2016.”
It further said, the “Code of Governance for the Public Sector will not be applicable immediately until an executive directive is secured from the Federal Government of Nigeria. This is due to the fact that the enabling laws that set up most government establishments already carry some form of governance structure that will require an umbrella legislation to unify the different provisions of those laws to synchronise with this Code.”
Pastor Adeboye was born on March 2, 1942, in Ifewara, Osun State.
He 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, Josiah Olufemi Akindayomi, from Yoruba into English.
In 1981, Pastor Adeboye was appointed General Overseer of the church. He took over from Rev. Akindayomi, who died the previous year.
For three years he performed the role part-time, still lecturing at Ilorin. He finally gave up his university position to preach full-time. The church, which was not well known prior to Pastor Adeboye’s ascendance, has grown phenomenally, to become Nigeria’s biggest, with branches in about 190 countries, including more than 14,000 in Nigeria.
Pastor Adeboye has said that his aim is to put a church within five minutes of every person on earth.
He married Adenike, 68, in 1967.
NAN reports that Pastor Obayemi was appointed the new Nigeria overseer at the Annual Ministers Thanksgiving at Shimawa, in Ogun State.
Pastor Obayemi was the Special Assistant to the General Overseer (SATGO) on Finance.
Pastor Adeboye also appointed Johnson Odesola, who was the Special Assistant on Administration and Personnel, as the church Secretary. (NAN)
Pastor Adeboye has not retired, as he now oversees the RCCG’s global arm.
Letter obtained from the church
