The Senior Pastor of the Dunamis International Gospel Centre (DIGC), Dr Paul Enenche, has explained why he recently rejected a N30 million donation by Governor Nasir Idris of Kebbi State to his church’s healing and deliverance crusade in Birnin Kebbi, the state capital.

Enenche said his action was not targeted at the governor but in keeping with a long time personal policy and that of the church not to accept gifts from government at all levels.

The pastor made the clarification on Sunday while delivering a sermon titled “Dividends of Praise” in the 100,000 capacity Glory Dome headquarters of the church, Abuja, the Nigerian capital.

Before he made the clarification during both first and second services, Enenche had directed the media unit to show the clips of the visit to Yelwata in Benue State where over 100 people were recently slaughtered as well as the Kebbi and the Gombe crusades, all of which were held last week.

Background

During the Kebbi crusade themed, “Dominion,” and held at the Haliru Abdu Stadium, Birnin Kebbi between June 17 and 19, the state Commissioner for Special Duties, Zayyanu Umar Aliero, announced that Governor Nasir Idris had approved a N30 million gift for the event’s organisers.

He said, “Our governor, His Excellency Dr Nasir Idris, has approved the donation of the sum of N40 million to this gathering,” he said.

However, the DIGC Senior Pastor, Dr Paul Enenche, rejected the gift, and pleaded that it should be given to orphans and other vulnerable people.

“If there is anything like an orphanage, if there is anything like that, at your discretion, please apply this amount of money to it. No. It will not be received,” Enenche said.

Speaking further, the clergyman stated that government funds should only be used for government projects, not for churches.

“We are one of those who believe that government money should be used for government projects and government things should be used for government things; and church money should be used for church things, not mixed together.

“That is what we did, that is what we do. As small as the Glory Dome is right there, government money is not in it. From land to the building to everything,” he said.

Enenche then advised that if the money must be given to a religious group, it should be given to a government-approved Christian body, such as CAN or the Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board.

“This is so that we can retain our dignity as a body of Christ; retain our dignity as a church, and say what we need to say when we need to say it,” he added.

In response to Enenche’s rejection, Aliero said he respected the pastor’s choice, saying, “They didn’t accept it because whatever he is doing, he is doing it for the sake of God. We appreciate and we thank him for what he is doing in our state.”

There were widespread reactions to Enenche’s rejection of the donation, especially on social media.

Kebbi CAN speaks

Meanwhile, a day after the rejection, the Kebbi chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said the association later accepted the money because it was not offered to an individual but to the organisers of the event.

CAN chairman in the state, Venerable Ayuba Kanta, explained in a statement that the crusade was jointly organised by the association, the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) and the DIGC.

“The N30 million was in support of the crusade jointly organised by the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, and CAN Kebbi State chapter,” the statement said.

He said Enenche, who ministered at the event, has a standing policy not to accept personal gifts during his ministry activities, adding that based on his (Enenche) recommendation, the funds were redirected by the state CAN leadership towards developmental projects.

Kanta, who is the vicar of the St. Luke’s Anglican Cathedral Church, Birnin Kebbi, confirmed that part of the money was used for the construction of a perimeter fence at the Christian cemetery recently approved by Governor Idris.

Why we rejected the donation

Speaking on Sunday, Enenche, a medical doctor turned gospel preacher, said he rejected the donation as a matter of principle, which he had maintained for a long time. He emphasised that it was not targeted at Governor Idris.

“For some people, that may be a surprise because they don’t know who we are. But those who know us, that is no surprise at all. That is how we have lived, and that is what we have stood for.

“As far back as twenty-something years ago, we have had invitations to say ‘let’s pray for this country,’ and at the end, everybody held envelopes, and I said, ‘No, I can’t pray for bale. And I took off from the spot,” he said.

The clergyman recounted how he was invited by the Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board to Jerusalem to deliver a sermon during the presidential pilgrimage alongside the then Nigeria’s president, Goodluck Jonathan, and some state governors.

He said he paid his airfare for the round trips having rejected an offer by the Board to do so.

He said, “By the time we returned back, the board chairman, John Kennedy then, Professor John Kennedy now, brought an offering and said this is their honorarium to me for going. I said ‘No.”

Enenche also recalled that while in office President Jonathan visited and worshiped twice at the church while it was in Area 1, Garki District of Abuja, but that he and the church never took a dime from him.

The pastor pointed his finger at the multi-billion-naira church building (Glory Dome), whose construction began in 2014 during Jonathan’s administration and dedicated in 2018 during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, and declared, “Government funds are not in this project, not a shishi (dime).”

Enenche, an indigene of Benue State, North Central Nigeria, also recounted how a former governor of the state, Samuel Ortom, invited him to give leadership talks and pray during the inauguration of the state cabinet.

He said he paid his way to Makurdi, the state capital, for the event and that “by the time I finished, one of the commissioners who was in charge of that kind of thing, was to give me an honorarium. Now, that was meant to be official honorarium for coming to teach us leadership things and so on, and he (Ortom) told the commissioner that ‘he will not receive it.”

Enenche said despite caution from the governor, whom he said he had prayed for before the election, the commissioner insisted on giving him (Enenche) the money, which he declined.

“I said I don’t want to touch any dime of government money,” he said.

The pastor said Ortom subsequently reminded him of how he (Ortom) had at one time brought money from his pocket and wanted to give him but that he (pastor) told him, “And I said, ‘I’m sure this is not from security votes. Please keep it, I’m okay.”

Enenche further told a story of how his childhood friend and schoolmate, who became a government minister bought a bus for the church but he turned it down because the bus was possibly procured with government money.

Amid cheers from the congregation, the clergyman further clarified that his decision to recount what happened in Kebbi was to re emphasise the fact that he was merely displaying the principle he has lived with for years.