The chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has revealed how the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, ordered the refund of billions of naira traced to the church as suspected proceeds of crime.

Mr Olukoyede disclosed this while speaking at a public event on corruption and the church on Saturday.

The EFCC chairman said some wealthy individuals and politicians had been using churches to conceal proceeds of corruption, adding that the commission traced some suspicious funds to the RCCG.

According to him, the commission wrote to Mr Adeboye to inform him of its findings, after which the cleric neither disputed the findings nor attempted to protect the donors but directed the church to return the money.

“Return the money,” Mr Olukoyede quoted the pastor as telling his subordinate.

The EFCC chairman said Mr Adeboye insisted that the church would not retain funds suspected to be proceeds of crime.

“He said, if the money is not clean, the church will not keep it. He said, return it. Let the government do what it wants with it,” the EFCC chairman quoted the cleric as saying.

Mr Olukoyede said the church complied with the directive and returned the funds to the commission, revealing that the amount involved ran into billions of naira.