Christians Should Challenge Pastors To Maintain Transparent Accounts–Femi Falana

Femi Falana (SAN) today called on all Christians to challenge pastors who have diverted contributions and funds from their congregations churches to build universities which the children of the same congregation cannot attend.

Describing the practice as “a sin, illegal and unjust,” Falana made this remark as part of his keynote address at the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders annual general convention held in Oregun today, with the theme "Institutionalizing Probity & Accountability in Governance: Perspectives and Methodologies".

“If you set up a school and the poor people who contributed those funds, cannot attend those institutions because you set up those schools for the children of the rich, you are bound to be made to account,” he said.

“Some Nigerian pastors are under investigation because they had registered as charities and a charitable organization cannot siphon funds to do business. This is why some respected pastors cannot travel to the UK today because they have been indicted,” he said.

He warned those who are using church funds to establish universities are soon going to have to render accounts. 

In the same vein the Executive Chairman of CACOL, Debo Adeniran, has described Lagos State as being governed under false pretense. "It is no gainsaying that Lagos has been running a government of grandstanding imbued by propaganda and bare-faced deception," he said.

He added that "nobody outside the hierarchy of the state government of the state government can give exact figure of the state’s IGR. The mechanism or arrangement of revenue collection is shrouded in secrecy."

"There has been dismal governmental failure in the area of the execution of the capital side of the budget and Lagos has been governed by false pretenses otherwise known as 419 governance."

For Lagosians and Nigerians to fully appreciate the extent of corruption, diligent analysis of budgetary implementation becomes imperative with a view to exposing the official deception that has become governmental policies at various levels of government.

In attendance at the forum was Alhaji Lateef Jakande, Chief Olapade Agoro, Barrister Muhammed Fawehinmi, Barrister Muiz Banire.