CHRISTIAN leaders across the length and breadth of the country have called on the Federal Government to revoke the Corporate Governance Code which was enacted by the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) attempting to regulate the tenure of spiritual leaders in Nigeria, saying such code may ignite religious crisis in the country.
The leaders, led by the presiding Bishop of the Sword of the Spirit Ministries, Bishop Francis Wale Oke, made this declaration at a press briefing held at the headquarters of the church, Olaogun, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Tuesday.
Bishop Oke, though commended President Muhammed Buhari for acting quickly to suspend the controversial code of the FRC and its board, but was quick to add that Christians want the code repealed as soon as possible.
With Bishop Francis Wale Oke were his wife, Reverend (Dr) Victoria Oke, Presiding Pastor, World Ablaze Missions International (WAMI), Triumphant Assembly Churches International, Reverend (Dr) Albert Oduwole, Presiding Prophet, Gospel Promotion Outreach; Christ Apostolic Church, Ori-Oke Baba Abiye Ede, Osun State, Prophet Funso Akande; Aggressive Faith Ministry, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Prophet Michael Amamiede; Maranatha Lord Cometh Ministry International, Bishop Samuel Olu Makinde; the Overseer, Calvary Bible Church Worldwide, Pastor Olumide Emmanuel and coordinator, Church of God Mission, Pastor GOC Nkem.
Bishop Oke said the church was worried that the Federal Government, unlike in other climes, is trying to infiltrate the church, and warned that the church is ready in its totality to rebuff the attempt.
“Let not the government dabble into religious matters. These are people who are diligently serving God, faithfully serving Nigerians and are giving hope for the masses in places, where the government is not giving them hope. Let the government face its own job.
“We want to commend the president for moving quickly to douse the fire, otherwise, it would be a fire that would have engulfed the whole nation. Though the man behind it had been sacked and the board dissolved, the government has not done enough. The code should not be suspended, repealed, annulled and should not be allowed to exist at all.
“There is a separation between the government and religious bodies. Yes, the government can regulate the finance of all organisations in the nation, but government has no business in regulating the choice or the tenure of religious leaders, spiritual headship of any organisation.
“The fact is that when God called them, the government was not there. Their calling is not the creation of the government. The government shouldn’t venture into where it does not have authority. The authority of the church leadership is spiritual, not political.”
Bishop Oke, however, suggested that if the Federal Government insisted on regulating the affairs of the religious body, such should be an all-encompassing arrangement, including other religious organisations in the country.
Bishop Oke told Christians not to exercise any fear, assuring that there was no problem whatsoever with the body of Christ.
“There is no government anywhere that can oppose the Church and succeed. So, believers should rise to pray, fast and evangelise. They should not oppose their spiritual leaders. Let us listen to them, support them, cooperate with them and see to how the Church will move from glory to glory,” he said.