RCCG General Overseer Pastor Enoch Adeboye has defended President Bola Tinubu’s handling of Nigeria’s insecurity crisis, arguing that issuing instructions to security chiefs is sufficient fulfillment of the president’s constitutional role as commander-in-chief.
Pastor Enoch Adeboye is not entertaining criticism of President Bola Tinubu — and he made that crystal clear in Washington.
Speaking at the US-Nigeria Faith Heroes Award Gala organised by the Save Nigeria Group on June 23, the RCCG General Overseer mounted a robust defence of the president amid mounting public frustration over Nigeria’s worsening insecurity, including the still-unresolved abduction of schoolchildren in Oyo State’s Oriire community.
“He (Mr Tinubu) contacted the U.S. He called a meeting of the big officers. What he told them, I don’t know. And I don’t need to know because he is the commander-in-chief,” Adeboye said. “When the commander-in-chief is giving instructions to his subordinate, who are you to be there? Let me make this one clear. I don’t support those accusing the president of not doing enough.”
Adeboye, who has previously referred to Tinubu as his in-law, drew a vivid — and somewhat unconventional — comparison to explain his reasoning.
“When the commander-in-chief has given instructions to his subordinates, he has done his bit. You don’t expect him to go out on Khaki. When my friend Trump gives instructions to go and bomb anywhere, he doesn’t leave White House. He has done his bit. I hereby command the bombing of Iran. And then he goes to the bedroom and sleeps. The rest is left for those who are supporters,” he said.
The cleric also touched on the Oriire abductions directly, claiming, according to a Gazette NGR report, that God had spoken to him about the fate of terrorism sponsors in Nigeria and that the children’s release would be “dramatic.”
Adeboye has faced criticism for not doing more to push for the children’s release. In response, RCCG issued a statement distancing the church from governance failures: “RCCG is not a political party. Pastor Adeboye does not hold political office and was not elected into government.”
Whether the defence quiets critics or fuels further debate remains to be seen.
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