Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), has credited divine intervention for preventing the Naira from depreciating further against the US dollar.
Speaking at the Special Holy Ghost Congress in Abuja, Adeboye cautioned that without God’s help, the exchange rate could have soared to as high as ₦10,000 per dollar.
He linked Nigeria’s economic difficulties to its reliance on imported fuel, despite being an oil-rich nation.
He criticized the inefficiency of local refineries, which remain nonoperational despite significant investments running into billions of Naira.
Adeboye also addressed the recent removal of fuel import subsidies, noting that while the move aimed to curb wasteful spending, it upset individuals who had benefited from the previous system.
He suggested that their discontent may have contributed to the country’s ongoing economic challenges.
“When you are going to quote me, please quote me accurately. We need help. And it is not human help, it is divine help. I will give you one or two reasons why. Because of you want restoration, you must first of all admit something is missing.
“Before our president came in, everybody knew that the reason we were having financial problems (we have been having it o, before he came in) is the fact that a lot of money was being spent to import petrol.
“Ah! How can we be importing petrol where we have this thing in abundance here? We spent billions of naira on our refineries, they didn’t work. So we can be able to keep on importing.
“That’s why when the president came in, the very first day he came, he said this money that they spend in importing petrol, he says he cancelled it. We were all rejoicing, thank God. But some people were angry, those who were making money from importing petrol. Then they decided okay, we will create a problem.
“Then all of a sudden, naira began to go down, fast. I cried to my people, let us pray. Thank God some people joined me in praying. Because the way naira was going then, if God had not intervened, by now, 1$ would be about N10,000. But God stepped in. Just to show you that we need prayers. And you know this has nothing to do with politics, I’m not a politician and I will never be one. That’s not my calling.”