Reverend Samuel Aboyeji has taken over from Rev. Felix Meduoye after his election as the fifth General Overseer of the church in Nigeria. Aboyeji has been the Senior Pastor of the Foursquare’s Olu of Warri Palace since 2001 and the Warri District Overseer/Mid-West Region Coordinator since 2006 and 2011 respectively where he was rated the best District Overseer of the church for three consecutive years.
Rev. Aboyeji is also a member of the board of both the Home and Foreign Missions and the National Executive Council of the church. He joined the Foursquare Gospel Church in 1988 and served the movement in various leadership capacities before he was ordained a minister of the church in 2001.
Rev. Aboyeji holds a Bachelor’s degree in Theology from LIFE Theological Seminary, Ikorodu; B.sc. (Hons) in Economics from the University of Ilorin; and an MBA in Financial Management and Accounting from the University of Lagos. He however, started his working career with the Nigerian Stockbrokers Limited (NSL), a subsidiary of NAL Merchant Bank Plc (now Sterling Bank Plc) from 1987 to 1992 where he trained as a stockbroker and licensed as an authorised dealing clerk of the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 1989.
Rev. Aboyeji left Nigerian Stockbrokers Ltd (NSL) to join Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC) with the Corporate Treasury in 1992 as an Investment Analyst with responsibility for money and capital market investments of the Pension Fund.
He was a pioneer staff of Shell Trustees Nigeria Limited where he had responsibility for building and managing its capital market portfolio until his transfer to the Community Relations department of SPDC in Warri in year 2000.
Aboyeji participated in the negotiation of the company with Niger Delta Communities during the Niger Delta Crisis of 2006 to 2009 and was a member of the SPDC West Re-entry team that facilitated the company’s production restoration in the post-amnesty era as the Community Interface Coordinator (CIC) for Swamp Communities of SPDC West. It was from this position that he opted for early retirement in March 2010 to answer to the call of God as a full-time minister of the gospel.
Born on December 26, 1960, the clergyman is married to Rev. (Mrs.) Olabisi T. Aboyeji, a qualified Medical Laboratory Scientist, who has been in full time ministry with him since 1993. The union is blessed with four children- Iyanuoluwa, Iyinoluwa, Ifeoluwa and Ireoluwa.
SEYI JOHN SALAU
