By Ere-ebi Agedah Imisi
The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has dismissed claims that he staged a protest against former President Goodluck Jonathan, clarifying that the widely circulated photograph of him carrying a placard was taken during a prayer walk.
Adeboye explained that although he carried a placard, the exercise was not a political protest against Jonathan but part of a nationwide prayer walk organised by the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN.
The cleric made the clarification while addressing his followers in a video that has gone viral, recalling how critics had previously described him as a wicked man over the incident.
He said reports had portrayed him as having protested against Jonathan, with newspapers publishing a photograph of him dressed in white and green while holding a placard.
According to him, he never denied carrying the placard but insisted that the activity was deliberately misrepresented.
“When I heard about it, I said, me, carry a placard against Jonathan? Sure, I carried a placard and I can’t deny that. It wasn’t a protest; it was a prayer walk,” he said.
Adeboye explained that the then CAN chairman had directed churches to organise prayer walks around their respective locations, adding that he participated in the exercise in Ebute Metta, Lagos.
He questioned why the religious exercise was subsequently presented as a political demonstration, insisting that his participation was in compliance with CAN’s directive.
The RCCG leader further challenged the timeline of the allegation, noting that Jonathan left office in 2015, whereas the photograph in question was taken in 2020, during the second term of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
He alleged that the incident was deliberately twisted to create the impression that he had participated in an anti-Jonathan protest in 2015, adding that many people accepted the narrative without questioning its accuracy.
Adeboye maintained that the placard-carrying exercise was solely for prayer and should not be interpreted as a political protest against the former president.
