Adeboye Ordered Refund of Billions of Stolen Govt Funds Donated to RCCG – EFCC

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, once ordered the refund of billions of naira donated to a church project after the funds were traced to proceeds of crime, the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede, has revealed.

Olukoyede said Adeboye directed the immediate return of the money within 24 hours after the church was alerted to its illicit source.

This was disclosed early in the morning of Saturday, November 7, while Olukoyede addressed workers of the RCCG during a meeting organised by the church ahead of its annual Holy Ghost Congress.

The Church Times Nigeria reported this development on Saturday, as Adeboye “invited Olukoyede to address the workers on financial propriety and the need for churches to maintain transparent financial records.”

According to the Punch, Olukoyede was quoted on the incident as saying: “A church member had donated billions of naira towards an RCCG project, but investigations later revealed that the money was proceeds of financial crime.

“Adeboye ordered the refund shortly after the church was alerted.”

Olukoyede, the report further said, did not reveal the identity of the donor, the specific RCCG project or the exact amount involved as the proceeds of crime.

Olukoyede, an ordained pastor, has been expressing worry over the increasing number of cases involving church leaders implicated in financial crimes, as well as allegations relating to contracts for church projects, warned “Church workers against accepting suspicious donations and pursuing money through questionable means.”

The EFCC boss recalled a similar case involving “another church allegedly implicated in a Ponzi scheme, saying its leader initially resisted the commission’s intervention but eventually refunded a substantial amount after the EFCC threatened legal action.”

Names and details about the church and the ponzi scheme were also withheld even as he warned that:

“The commission would not spare anyone involved in financial crimes, regardless of their religious position or affiliation.”

He further “cautioned church members against materialism, unhealthy competition and leadership struggles, saying such tendencies could expose religious institutions to financial misconduct.”

He also raised concerns about reports of individuals allegedly bribing their way into leadership positions within the RCCG.

Olukoyede urged pastors to investigate the sources of donations before accepting them, stressing the need to ensure that contributions to church projects were not proceeds of criminal activities.

In his response, Adeboye said the “RCCG would not protect anyone found to be involved in financial wrongdoing,” urging “pastors in the church to maintain clean financial records” and ensure that their activities were free from corruption.