By Deborah Omoare
Claim
A facebook page named “Hope for Nigeria” published a claim that the Vice President of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbanjo resigned as a pastor from the Redeem Christian Church of God RCCG.
Full Text
Hope for Nigeria, an online community platform, claimed that the Vice President of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbanjo resigned as a pastor from the Redeem Christian Church of God.
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Osinbajo was sworn in as the Nigeria’s Vice President-elect on May 29, 2015. He began his second term on May 29, 2019.Osinbajo is also the pastor in charge of the Lagos Province 48 (Olive Tree provincial headquarters) of the Redeemed Christian Church of God.
The post which has been surfacing since 17th of April, 2016 has 129 likes with over 100 comments as of the time of writing this report.
The claim was not only posted by Hope for Nigeria, as verification indicates a news blog named Igbere Television posted the same claim with the timeline tagged six years ago.
Here’s an excerpt from Igbere Television claim
“Reports reaching FactCheckElections shows that the Vice President of The Federal Republic of Nigeria, Prof Yemi Osinbajo has resigned as a Pastor of the The Redeem Christian Church of God. According to an insider who does not want to be named,
“He told some of of his colleagues that he could not continue because of the nature of his work and the kind of assignment his superior sends him to execute. He further explained that he would not want any of his actions in office to dent the image of the church and stain the reputation of the General overseer.” (source: from Igbere TV)
Verdict
There are no concrete evidence to support the viral claim that “Osinbanjo resigned as a pastor”, as rumored by these these claimants hence this check declares it FALSEHOOD
Verification
Checks by FactcheckElection reveal that online media houses debunked the news of Osinbanjo resigning as a pastor in RCCG.
This claim was debunked by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, which was published in Daily Post and YNaija.
“Our attention has been drawn to a false publication by a certain online medium, IGBERETV, to the effect that Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, has resigned as a Pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God.
“The report is misleading and completely baseless. Prof. Osinbajo continues to serve as a Pastor in the RCCG, honoring the call of God on his life.”
“He is in fact the Pastor-in-Charge of RCCG Lagos Province 48, a position he has held in the past three years and in which he continues to serve.”
“This completely fabricated report should be ignored and disregarded in its entirety,” he said.