Reps to wade into FRCN edict on churches, mosques today

The House of Representatives is expected today to wade into the controversies arising from the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) law, which approves 20 years tenure in office for heads of churches and mosques.

The move to debate the development was brought to the floor of the House yesterday by its Minority Leader, Leo Ogor, who urged members to look into the law, which he said, was stirring up controversy and embarassment for the country.

He, therefore, advised the Federal Government to make the FRCN law clear to Nigerians, as it was not passed by the National Assembly.

Oke commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his quick action in stopping the impending crisis by sacking the FRCN boss and reconstituting the board.

He urged the government to face its duties of providing the needed social amenities for the people instead of dabbling in religious matters.

At a press conference yesterday in Ibadan, the cleric said that while government could regulate the finances of the church, it should not interfere in the tenure, activities or internal arrangements of the church.

He said: “The edict should be repealed. There is a separation between the church and the government, yet the government can regulate their finances but not to interfere in the tenure of the leaders of the church. The law should not just be suspended but be expunged totally.

“Even in the United Kingdom (UK), the government regulates the finances but does not regulate the tenure and internal arrangement. The internal arrangement should be governed by the constitutions of those religious houses. The constitution separates the religious bodies from the government.

Meanwhile, a group, the Citizens Advocacy for Social and Economic Rights (CASER), has called on Pastor Enoch Adeboye to rescind his resignation as the General Overseer (G.O.) of The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG).

A statement issued yesterday by the Executive Director of the Abuja-based human rights group, Mr. Frank Tietie, said CASER would seek a court order to compel Adeboye to reverse his decision should the “holy man of God” refuse to voluntarily do so.

He said the group was acting, not only in the interest of members of the RCCG, but also of the church generally.

Jim Obazee’s sack: Should churches be regulated? – By Ebuka Nwankwo

The anger, as well as surprise, which surrounded the announcement that Pastor Enoch Adeboye was relinquishing his position as the head of the Nigerian unit of the Redeemed Christian Church of God was palpable. Some couldn’t understand why the government was getting involved in the activities of the ‘righteous’.

The revered pastor attributed his resignation to the rules set by the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN)—an agency established by an Act of Parliament — on the tenure of heads of all not-for-profit organizations. (This rule stipulates a maximum of 20 years, or a 70-year age limit, for heads of churches and mosques, who have occupied all major governance positions.)

Ordinarily, this would have been a non-issue to many because successors would still have to come from the ‘righteous’ within these churches and mosques, and can never be imposed on them.

Besides, for some organizations, like the Redeemed Christian Church of God, you could argue that such change of baton might not mean much. After all, Adeboye is still the world-wide leader. A bishop can never be as powerful as a pope.

But the leading opposition party took advantage of this confusion. They argued that the intent of such rule was to weaken the church. Even the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) joined in condemning the ‘government’ – it didn’t matter to them that the rule also applied to mosques. (Some members of CAN had earlier contested this rule in court, but lost.)

And the number one culprit, which they wanted people to know of, was the President. He has always been labelled as someone who had an Islamic agenda.

But the President had absolutely nothing to do with this rule. Apparently, noticing the rhetoric being used to cast him in a bad light, and in order to make a point, the President quickly went ahead to fire the executive secretary of FRCN, Jim Obazee.

The Obazee-led FRCN had released a modified code of corporate governance for public, private and not-for-profit organizations last October. While the private sector was required to mandatorily comply, not-for-profit organizations were required to comply or justify non-compliance.

These new codes of conduct had been vehemently criticized: The private sector, even religious organizations, felt the rules were too harsh. Some even felt FRCN had overstepped its bounds by increasing fines and levies for corporate offenders.

Little wonder, therefore, that many saw Obazee’s sack as ‘good riddance to bad rubbish’. He had been accused of buying a house in America after it was alleged that he was used by former President Jonathan to ‘’sack the former CBN governor, Lamido Sanusi’’. A staff of FRCN had accused him of sexual assault and he had been recently interrogated by the EFCC on the finances of FRCN.

But what really are the intents of this code of conduct for religious bodies.

Most churches and mosques are registered with CAC as Incorporated Trustees in Nigeria, just as NGOs are. Thus, assets of churches are placed under the trust and confidence of their Trustees. And unlike a shareholder, a Trustee is not supposed to earn a profit, but expected to promote the objective of such organization.

A corporation status is conferred on Trustees, who could be sued instead of the church or mosque. With this status, churches can go into businesses, such as running schools and hospitals, as far as they are not for profit.

It is important to note that churches and mosques which are incorporated grapple with issues normal businesses do, such as disputes within employees, membership tussles, property disputes, contractual disputes, negligence claims and even outright theft by members.

And the FRCN, just like the Charity Commission in the UK, intends to use codes of conduct to ensure that leaders and founders of churches do not became dictators in their organizations. (The codes set by the Charity Commission in the UK for churches are even more stringent.)

One reason propounded for government involvement in regulating not-for-profit organizations is this: Organizations and individuals who enjoy tax exemptions should be prevented from using their offices to attain excessive benefits for themselves and their families. (There have been many instances where leaders of charities [churches are referred to as charities in the UK] paid themselves outrageous salaries and got involved corruption, despite having the privilege of not paying taxes.)

Ordinarily, religious organization are expected to be ethical but in some cases they have fallen short. Sadly, government – which ought to take examples from these organizations and could overstep its bounds – becomes the only institution left to ensure probity.

And here is the lesson in all these: In order to minimize the interference of government in religious organizations, faith-based organization should come back to the basics, which is nothing but selfless and genuine commitment to the teachings of their faiths.

Government should learn from churches and mosques, and not the other way round.

FRCN blames CBN for illegal transfer of MTN’s $13.9bn.

The Senate on Thursday began its investigative hearing on the alleged transfer of $13.9bn by MTN Nigeria out of the country illegally.

The Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, in its presentation, blamed the regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria, for any irregularities in the matter.

The Executive Secretary, FRCN, Mr. Jim Obaze, blamed the CBN for the continuous depletion of the nation’s foreign reserves.

Nigeria foreign reserves, which stood rose to $30.2bn in July 2015 from $29.9bn it was in May 2015, is now $24.2bn, according to the CBN’s financial report of last month.

Blaming the apex bank for the continued drop, Obaze stated that the problem was caused by poor and weak accountability by the regulator.

According to him, as long as cash inflow and outflow are not matched by the regulator, problem of foreign reserves depletion will always occur.

He noted that the regulator had a critical role to play in checking the excesses of all operators.

The FRCN boss called for a review of the law regulating financial institutions and multinational companies operating in the country, which, he said, would make the FRCN to discharge its responsibilities more efficiently and effectively.

Obaze said, “The short answer to it is very poor weak accountability and regulatory practice in Nigeria. The regulatory agencies are not working but if they are working definitely a lot of these infractions will not occur.

“You cannot have the security personnel at your gate who has suddenly left the gate opened and then you said somebody stole your assets and you can’t find them.

“The regulatory agencies after all their submissions will definitely find their role in all of them because there are laws that they are supposed to protect.

“If you are not protecting them, then definitely some openings like this where you see this depletion.”