*Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, General Overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church of God, relates how ‘disturbed’ he was over his experience with the officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, when the anti-graft agency’s operatives came after him for acquiring a private jet some years ago

Alexander Davis | ConsumerConnect

Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, General Overseer (a.k.a. Daddy G.O.) of The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), in Nigeria, has related his experience during his encounter with the officials of the country’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) sequel to his acquisition of a $65 million G550 luxury jet some years ago.

The revered Christian preacher confirmed the officials of the anti-graft regulatory agency came after him when he bought a private jet.

ConsumerConnect learnt Pastor Adeboye relived the experience with the EFCC during a sermon at the Redemption City Friday through morning Saturday, January 7, 2023, at the Holy Ghost Service of the Church, tagged: “Wonderful”.

According to Adeboye, he returned to God for a solution when the agency’s operatives came to probe him over the ownership of a private jet, report said.

How provision of jet came about

Adeboye said at the time when the provision came for him to own a jet, there was much noise around this, and people were criticising him from all areas.

He recalled: “They sent EFCC to come and probe me.

“Where did he get the money to buy a jet?, etc. The noise was much.”

The renowned RCCG pastor said: “Then, one day, I was flying because I didn’t buy a jet for pleasure.

“The work (ministry) has expanded to the level that there is no way I can do it by commercial travelling.”

Sharing his travel experience and how a private jet became a necessity to his ministry, Pastor Adeboye said: “If you want to travel by commercial, you have to wait for their timetable.

“If I have to wait for their timetable, I won’t be able to do what God wants me to do.

“I mean to give you an example: I finished in our European Convention in Spain one night, 33 nations gathered together; as soon as I dismissed the programme around 12 midnight, I headed straight for the Airport to travel over to Hong Kong.”

He further recalled: “I arrived in Hong Kong the following day, did what I needed to do, and then moved on to Singapore.

“I arrived in Singapore, did what I needed to do and then headed for Australia.

“I got to Australia, did what I needed to do, I headed for Papua New Guinea.

“I needed to touch all those places, minister to them, dedicate the churches, ordain pastors and be back before the next Holy Ghost Service.”

Adeboye admitted that “there’s no way I can do that by commercial plane. That’s what led to the jet. The noise was great, and I was becoming a bit disturbed.”

What I did when EFCC operatives came

Speaking on what he did during the encounter with EFCC officials, the General Overseer said he asked God, saying: “Father, what do I do now?”

He stated that God answered him, as He told him, “Don’t answer them; I have you surrounded.”

Expatiating further on the issue, he stated: “One day, I was flying; it was during the day, far above the cloud. I just felt the Holy Spirit saying, ‘Look out of the window.’

“I looked out of the window and said, Lord, I can’t see anything. He said, ‘look down at the cloud and I saw a rainbow.’

“Now, normally a rainbow is an arc but this rainbow that I saw was a complete circle, and it was extremely big.”

Adeboye as well said: “I looked down into the centre of the rainbow, and I saw the shape of a plane.

“It looks as if the rainbow was moving, always keeping the plane in the middle.

“The Lord said to me, ‘Son, the shadow you see is the shadow of this your plane. I have you surrounded.’ ”

History of Adeboye’s $65 million luxury jet

It is recalled reports had said Pastor Adeboye took delivery of a $65million brand new Gulfstream jet 2015.

The sources familiar with his purchase of the new private aircraft disclosed that the arrival the luxury aircraft in Nigeria coincided with the pastor’s floating of a luxury jet company, ‘Emmanuel Aviation’.

Although the aviation company reportedly existed since 2009, it had just unveiled a Web site to announce its swanky fleet and aviation services, Sahara Reporters said.

Pastor Adeboye’s Gulfstream G550 luxury jet was manufactured 2013, in Savannah, Georgia State in the United States (US), but the G.O. took delivery of his private jet May 2015.

However, following the arrival of the US-registered jet in the West African country, N730EA Gulfstream G550, Pastor Adeboye reportedly jettisoned an older Gulfstream GIV with tail number N707EA that used to ferry him around the world on his preaching missions.

The leader of the Redeemed Christian Church of God “personally owns” Emmanuel Aviation, for which the two jets are registered both in the US and Nigeria, report said.

An aviation expert was quoted to have explained that some Nigerian jet owners, like Pastor Adeboye, prefer registration of their jets in the US because such registration grants them generous landing rights worldwide.