The head of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, FRC, Jim Obazee, has been sacked by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Mr. Obazee’s sack comes
about 48 hours after implementation of his agency’s law led to the exit
of Nigeria’s most influential Christian cleric, Enoch Adeboye.
Mr.
Adeboye resigned as the general overseer of the Redeemed Church in
Nigeria on Saturday, but retained oversight of the global arm of the
church.
The FRC rule is established by the Financial Reporting Council, Nigeria, Act No 6, 2011.
The
council, which is under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of
Industry, Trade and Investment, is responsible for, among others,
developing and publishing accounting and financial reporting standards
to be observed in the preparation of financial statements of public
entities in Nigeria and for related matters.
The Governance
Code of 2016 put in place by the agency to implement the Act encompasses
three sectors: the private, the public and not-for-profit.
It
is the not-for-profit sector, sometimes referred to as the Benevolent
Sector, the Third Sector or the Civil Society Sector, that religious
bodies fall under.
Section 9.1. of the code states that “The
Founder or Leader of a NFPO occupies a special position in the
Organisation and is committed to the success and longevity of the NFPO.”
Accordingly,
a founder or leader should not take on too many responsibilities in the
organisation or have an indefinite term in the running of the
organisation, and is expected to not stay in office for more than 20
years.
On the day Mr. Adeboye’s exit was announced by the church, the cleric criticised the meddling of government in church matters.
“The
government has been showing increasing interest in church affairs.
Unfortunately, for us in RCCG, it might not be very helpful,” he was
quoted as saying on Saturday by the Tribune Newspapers during a church
service.
President Buhari announced the sack of the FRC boss in a statement by his spokesperson, Garba Shehu.
Mr.
Obazee is to be replaced by Daniel Asapokhai while a new board, headed
by Adedotun Sulaiman was also constituted for the agency.
No official reason was given for Mr. Obazee’s sack
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