I consulted Adeboye, Dolapo before accepting VP position –Osinbajo

The Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has disclosed that the only two people he consulted before accepting to be vice-president to President Mohammadu Buhari in 2015 were the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye; and his own wife, Dolapo.

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

Osinbajo said because he was not a politician when the opportunity came, he could only seek the consent of two persons as stated.

He said, “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.”

Earlier, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who was the chairman of the event, described Pa Adeboye as “a man who has touched more lives in the country more than politicians.”

He also talked about how the cleric personally influenced his life, especially when he was making consultations whether or not to contest for the presidency in the 1999 general elections.

Obasanjo, who noted that politicians were supposed to influence the lives of the masses positively, said 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.”

He added that it was the wife of the General Overseer that invited him, without the knowledge of the husband, asking that G.O should forgive them for this.

Obasanjo 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.”

Wife of Pastor Adeboye, Mrs. Folu Adeboye, said the book was completely produced without the knowledge of her husband “because it is part of the year of surprises we are going to be having.”

She acknowledged the role played by the 40 authors in ensuring that the publication was near perfect, “because only God is perfect.”

Responding, Pa Adeboye said he must have been kept away from the programme 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.”