Fresh facts emerge on ‘Redeemed Christian Church Jet’

By Chinedu Eze,

The purchase of a private jet, a Gulfstream 4XP with registration number 707EA, might have been attributed to the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, in error.

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Documents available to THISDAY yesterday showed that the aircraft was purchased by five members of the church and will be run as a charter service, but priority is to be given to Adeboye who will be given “free rides” to ease his movement within and outside the continent.

THISDAY had erroneously quoted a price of $28 million but the aircraft papers showed that the aircraft, a 1996 model, was purchased at $10 million (N1.4 billion).

The five members of the church, whose names are being withheld for confidential reasons, made a down payment of 30 per cent of the cost while a first generation bank gave a loan of $7 million for the balance.

“The aircraft is the collateral,” a bank official conversant with the transaction told THISDAY.

The aircraft is to run private charters, with proceeds to be used to offset the loan and pay for its maintenance as well as settle the personnel cost of running the aircraft.

“The business plan is well laid out,” another source told THISDAY. “The Redeemed Church did not put down a kobo. It is not their aircraft. Pastor Adeboye does not have a kobo in it. It is unfortunate that the man is being savaged all over the media and on the internet for something he knows nothing about. Unfortunately, he is not the type to come out and be defending himself or issuing media statements.”

The source told THISDAY that some members of the church had expressed concern about the cumbersome flight schedules the pastor of one of Nigeria’s biggest churches has had to cope with.

“If he wants to go to Banjul, in Gambia, it is a tortuous journey, flying from one connecting point to the other,” the source explained. “This obviously influenced the decision of some entrepreneurs in the church to have this sort of arrangement in which Pastor Adeboye will enjoy free rides and can readily organise his journeys. But the aircraft will pay for itself eventually. It neither belong to Redeemed Church nor Adeboye.”

The aircraft arrived Lagos from Bahamas on Sunday, March 8, 2009.

It is a transatlantic aircraft that has the capacity of about 15 passengers – depending on the customisation.

Adeboye had come under criticism in the media and on internet discussion rooms for allegedly being “insensitive” at these economic crunch times and for allegedly abandoning his simple lifestyle for the flamboyance of jet-age pastors.

The General Overseer of Living Faith Worldwide, a.k.a. Winners Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo, has a Challenger aircraft, with number D6640.