Pastor Adeboye, now 79 years old, became General Overseer of the RCCG in 1981 at only 39 years old, having been ordained and selected by the founding pastor, Pa Josiah Akindayomi.
Late Pastor Dare Adeboye, the first son of the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, was poisoned by a senior pastor of the church over some leadership crisis rocking the church, SaharaReporters has learnt from top pastors of the church.
The pastors claimed that 43-year-old Adeboye, who died in his sleep on May 4 in Eket, Akwa Ibom State, was feared and envied by some pastors in the RCCG as likely to take over the leadership of the church from his father.
Pastor Adeboye, now 79 years old, became General Overseer of the RCCG in 1981 at only 39 years old, having been ordained and selected by the founding pastor, Pa Josiah Akindayomi.
His appointment had also been criticised at that time by some top RCCG pastors who considered him too young to lead the church, having only joined in 1973, eight years before emerging the general overseer.
Top pastors revealed to SaharaReporters that the late Dare Adeboye, who was until his death the Assistant Youth Pastor for Region 35 in Akwa Ibom, was caught in an envious ring of pastors who were wary of his rise and planned the poison operation.
Dare still conducted a church programme on the Tuesday when he came back home and did not wake up from sleep.
"A senior pastor of the church poisoned the late Adeboye's son because they feared he would succeed his father as overseer of the church. He had been sick for a while because of the poisoning and you can tell from his last birthday video circulated on the Internet that he was already looking frail and old.
"It affected his blood and he was looking lethargic. The prayer warriors prayed fervently for him to be revived when he died. When Adeboye heard he was dead, he asked that he be flown to Redemption Camp at the private residence of the senior Adeboye. Adeboye prayed for the son but when the son did not wake up, he asked that he be taken to the mortuary," one of the pastors revealed.
"Up till now, there is infighting among RCCG top pastors as to who would succeed Daddy G.O. There is bitter politics about who would be the G.O. and some are ready to give it everything it takes to be appointed," another top pastor added.
Till date, the family did not reveal the cause of Dare's death.[story_link align="left"]93924[/story_link]
Pastor Adeboye had confirmed rivalry and opposition to his emergence among the church and some pastors.
"I joined the church only in 1973, even though it had been in existence since 1952. Some foundation members had been pastors even before I was born again.
"They regarded my promotion as too rapid! Some of them had become very influential because they had been pastors for a long time," Adeboye had narrated.
He added that fortunately, most members, particularly the youth, supported him because they realised that he also had first rejected the appointment.
Pastor Adeboye took his silent opposition group of pastors by surprise also in 2018 when he revealed that God had not yet shown him his successor.
While speaking at the annual RCCG ministers' conference at the Redemption Camp in Mowe, Ogun State, he stated that this was in response to rumours that he had found his replacement.
He said, "God has not told me about any successor at all, whether you believe it or not. Elijah knew before Elisha knew that he would succeed him, Moses also knew that Joshua would succeed him and likewise Eli knew before Samuel and not the other way round and therefore, God will tell me first before any other person about who will become my successor as a general overseer."
Also, in February, Pastor Adeboye had revealed that he would live to 90 years before he dies, all to the greater bitterness of top pastors eyeing his coveted G.O. seat.
"I am not going to die young. Some people laughed when they heard me say that don't worry about yourselves celebrating any birthday for me now. Wait till I am 90; then we will celebrate for a whole month," he had said.
SaharaReporters had on May 11 reported that Dare Adeboye was prayed over for many hours on Wednesday, May 5, by RCCG pastors when he refused to wake up from his sleep.[story_link align="left"]93754[/story_link]
"Prayer sessions also began at the Redemption Camp on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, where the news had filtered only among the senior pastors that Dare was not waking from his sleep. They also started an intensive prayer session. Dare would have woken up from the corporate anointing that prayed for him if it were indeed a spiritual attack. I believed God himself took him away," a source had stated at that time.
It was reported that after he did not wake up, as usual, his wife went to check on him and found out that he had passed on.
Pastor Adeboye had, at the May 2021 edition of the church's Holy Ghost service, broken silence over the death of his son, urging everyone to always thank God and say, 'It is well even in the face of crises rather than 'blame and question God'.
He had said, "Whatever we have is given to us by God, be it wealth, wife, husband, children e.t.c and if it got taken away by God, all we can do is give God glory for actually giving us the privilege to enjoy that wealth or kids temporarily, and it is not for us to complain, blame and question God.
"What we see as sorrows might be joy in the sight of God. I mean, His ways and thoughts are not the same as ours; we shouldn't forget that both good and bad happen at God's command. (Lamentations 3:38).
"Finally, in all things, let's learn to say thank you, father, and it is well. God bless all of you in Jesus' name."