The Senior Pastor of Daystar Christian Centre in Lagos, Sam Adeyemi, on Monday said most churches in the country were financially stranded due to lack of financial management skills by their leaders.
Speaking at a news conference organised by the Christian Financial Accountability Association in Lagos, Adeyemi said many churches spent money without proper monitoring and records.
He said: “When people say churches have money, it is propaganda.
“At least 75 per cent of churches have less than 100 members.
“It is very little money they manage and out of that little money, they take care of widows and people who do not have.
“Most of the leaders of these churches don’t have financial management skills.”
Adeyemi said CFAA was dedicated to helping these Christian organisations to facilitate financial accountability, ethical and governance standards.
“When these organisations are helped, even their finances will be better,” he said.
Also speaking, Yinka Ogunubi, a financial expert and economist, said the objective of CFAA was to ensure that churches were accountable, transparent and observe good governance.
Ogunubi said: “The church in Nigeria has always been instrumental in the country’s development.
“The issues we are going to be looking at are issues that are germane, which are based on accountability, transparency and governance.
“The CFAA is a self regulating organisation made up of churches and Christian faith-based organisations that will promote ethics of accountability, transparency and governance.”
Ogunubi said no church would oppose accountability, adding that championing the course of Christianity and being accountable worked together.
“You cannot say you are championing the course of Christianity and at the same time you are afraid of being accountable,” he said.
He added that the conference was to lay the foundation, assuring everyone that the organisation would be run by professionals.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that CFAA would focus on education and enlightenment on corporate governance and accountability.
Ogunubi said: “Its end goal is to help churches become more effective and also comply with the mandatory government regulations.”
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