Why I consulted Adeboye, Dolapo before accepting VP position –Osinbajo

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) has explained how the consultations with two people prompted him to accept the offer of vice-president to President Mohammadu Buhari in 2015.

According to Osinbajo, the two people are the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Pastor Enoch Adeboye; and his wife, Dolapo.

The acting president stated this on Tuesday during a remark at the public presentation of a book titled, “Pastor E. A. Adeboye: His Life and Calling, at the auditorium of the RCCG Youth Centre, Redemption Camp, on the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway.

He further disclosed that he had to seek the consent of Pastor Adeboye and his wife on the grounds that he was not a politician.

He said, “ When the offer came. I consulted two people. And those two persons are my wife and Daddy (Pastor Adeboye).

“Over the years, Daddy had been instrumental to my spiritual growth. Just like Baba Obasanjo said earlier, I consulted Daddy and he gave me the go-ahead to accept the vice-president position. Before then I was not a politician.”

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who was the chairman of the event, had earlier described Pastor Adeboye as “a man who has touched more lives in the country more than politicians.”

Obasanjo further disclosed how Adeboye personally influenced his life, citing the period when he was making consultations whether or not to contest for the presidency in the 1999 general elections.

According to Obasanjo, politicians are supposed to influence the lives of the masses positively, saying however that Pastor Adeboye had done more than politicians in this regard.

He said, “As politicians, we are supposed to touch lives, but, for Pastor Adeboye, he has touched more lives than politicians. He has been a man of God with a difference, whom I benefited from personally when I was consulting to contest the 1999 election.”

The former president also disclosed that it was the wife of Pastor Adeboye that invited him, without the knowledge of her husband.

Obasanjo, therefore, asked Pastor Adeboye to forgive them for the development.

He said, “I was told not to reveal my coming here by Mummy (Adeboye’s wife). How can I come to you without calling you? But, that was the instruction.

“Until I am in this hall, I never see anything about this programme. That means we have committed sins by keeping this secret from you and we seek for forgiveness from you and I am sure we have been forgiven.”

In her comment at the event, the wife of Pastor Adeboye, Mrs. Folu Adeboye, said the book was completely produced without the knowledge of her husband, saying that the decision was part of the year of surprises “we are going to be having.”

The wife of the general overseer also acknowledged the role of the 40 authors in ensuring that the publication was near perfect, “because only God is perfect.”

In his response, Pastor Adeboye said he must have been kept away from the programmer for a purpose, because God did not reveal anything to him about it.

He said, “God wanted it to happen that way, because if I had been foretold, I would not have approved of it.

“And the reason is simple: Who should be celebrated? Me or the Person who sent me the message? Anyway, just like Baba (Obasanjo) had requested, I forgive you all.”

Tony Amokeodo