NEWS
“Pastor E.A. Adeboye Will Speak Only When God Says Speak” — Pastor Joseph Odesola Says, Urges Nigerians Not to Pressure Adeboye to Speak Against Tinubu
The Continental Overseer for Continent 3, covering South West Nigeria and the Middle East, of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Joseph Odesola, has urged Nigerians to stop pressuring the General Overseer of the church, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, to publicly speak against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Odesola said Adeboye would speak on Nigeria’s political and economic situation whenever he believed it was the appropriate time, stressing that the respected cleric should not be compelled to make public statements simply because Nigerians or political interests were demanding them.
The RCCG leader made his position known in an article published by Impact Nigeria on Monday and shared on his X page with the caption, “Pastor E.A. Adeboye Will Speak Only When God Says Speak.”
According to Odesola, there has been growing pressure on prominent religious leaders, particularly Adeboye, to comment on the Tinubu administration, with some people appearing to have already determined the kind of statement they want the cleric to make.
He said, “Some people are waiting eagerly for Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye to speak about President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. But it appears that they are not merely waiting for him to speak; they already have a script they want him to follow.”
Odesola explained that some Nigerians expected Adeboye to attack Tinubu, condemn the administration in strong language or make religious pronouncements against the President. He, however, argued that such expectations were inconsistent with the conduct expected from a responsible religious leader.
He wrote, “But that is not Pastor Adeboye. And, more importantly, that is not how a responsible servant of God should operate.”
The RCCG Continental Overseer noted that Adeboye had spent decades establishing himself as a religious leader whose interventions were guided by conviction, prayer and spiritual responsibility. He therefore maintained that the cleric should not be expected to speak merely because the public was demanding his intervention.
Odesola said, “A man of God does not have to speak simply because people are demanding that he speak. There is a difference between speaking because the crowd is shouting and speaking because one has something meaningful to say.
“There is also a difference between political commentary and prophetic responsibility.”
His comments come amid intensified public debate over Nigeria’s political direction, economic challenges and the performance of the Tinubu administration, with prominent religious figures increasingly being called upon to lend their voices to national issues.
Odesola’s intervention makes clear that any statement from Adeboye on the current administration, whether critical or supportive, should come at a time and in a manner determined by the cleric himself rather than through pressure from political actors, supporters or critics of the government.