Source: Global News
There is
a popular saying that the love of money is the root of all evil and this has
over the time led to the fall of many pastors who could not resist the urge.
One of
such pastors is the general overseer and the presiding bishop of the El-Shadai
Bible Church, Bishop Joseph Olanrewaju Obembe, who is the former chairman
of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Lagos State Chapter.
Recently,
the supposed man of God was dragged to court in Lagos by his business partners
for fraud in a crude oil deal. The bishop’s partners alleged that the cleric
cheated them out of a huge amount of cash after some prospective investors
offered $9 million for an oil deal. Sources revealed that the former PFN leader
declared to his partners that the deal was for $1 million instead of $10
million that was the actual offer by the investors after which he was said to
have mandated them to pay 10 per cent of the money to his church as tithe.
The
bishop who had been working on perfecting ways he would swindle his partners
had in December 2010 filed a lawsuit where he accused his partners of forgery.
In the suit, he accused them of altering the letterhead of Elshaddai Petroleum
Limited with intent to dupe his company to the tune of N100 million. This was,
however, refuted by his partners and his supposed witness whose testimonies
contradicted that of the cleric, indicating that it was the bishop who was
actually responsible for defrauding his business partners.
In the
case which is before Justice Okunnu of the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja, the
witness of the bishop, one Helyn Aninye, in her testimony portrayed the bishop
as the traitor whose greed caused the collapse of the business relationship.
Her words were corroborated by the witness of the partners who also claimed
that the bishop’s greed and intent to defraud were responsible for the collapse
of the business arrangement.
The
testimonies which were in favour of the partners which consisted of Mr. Remi
Folorunsho, Pastor Olagunju, Bishop Obembe, Mr. Sajuyigbe and later Ms Aninye,
showed how they entered into an agreement in 2006 to pursue an oil bloc
business where Lanre Obembe’s Elshaddai Petroleum Limited would be used as the
bidding firm for bloc as it was then too late to register another company.
Subsequently when they won their bid for the bloc marked ’294′ in the Niger
Delta for $51 million, unable to finance the business, the partners went
searching for investors for their oil bloc and it was at this period that the
partners started noticing changes in the man of God.
In their
testimonies, the partners claimed the bishop who owns the bidding company
together with his family had agreed to change ownership of the company where
all the partners would be made directors in the El Shaddai Petroleum Company
but that the firm had not filed all the relevant forms to be registered
before the partnership began crumbling due to the pastor’s love for money.
According
to Mr. Sajuyigbe, the partners agreed that Bishop Obembe should remain as
chairman of the company, while Mr. Folorunsho began serving as the chief
executive officer. Ms. Aninye, who is a lawyer, served as company secretary and
legal adviser, and Mr. Folorunsho served as the finance director while Pastor
Olagunju had no special function but served as liaison for the team abroad
because he is based outside the country.
The
partners claimed the pastor’s attitude changed when some investors showed
interest in the oil bloc and offered to fund the business. A decision was later
reached to accept one of the prospective investors, IGI, which was incidentally
introduced by the bishop. It was, however, sad to know that the supposed man of
God allegedly concealed the actual value of IGI’s investment, which was $10
million by declaring only $9 million to the other partners, out of which he
asked them to make payment of 10% of the $1 million as tithe to his church.
According
to the partners, it was later that they discovered from reliable sources that
the actual amount offered by IGI was $10 million and it was the discovery that
led to a rift in the partnership. They further explained to the court that,
when the partners confronted Bishop Obembe over his fraud, the cleric described
it as “a mistake of the mind and not of the body.”
A lawyer
familiar with the partnership claimed that the other partners opened a new
domiciliary account and advised IGI to pay its investment there, a move they
had also informed the bishop. This he explained was designed to checkmate his
fraud and this reportedly infuriated Bishop Obembe who then decided to file a
lawsuit accusing the other partners of “forgery” of letterhead to enter into
correspondence and for the purpose of opening a new account.
It is worthy
of note that the man of God had previously had issues concerning his love for
money. It was because of money that he had confrontation with the then
president of the PFN, Bishop Mike Okonkwo who accused him of mismanaging
several millions of dollars apportioned by American televangelist Benny
Hinn for his crusade here in Nigeria. Obembe was accused by Benny Hinn of
embezzling more that $4 million of the money the evangelist sent to organizers
of the 2005 Lagos Crusade headed by Bishop Lanre Obembe.
The
pastor who has been running his church like personal business was also in the
past alleged to have through illegal means acquired things for himself; this
was said to be the reason he was forced off the place he built his church in
Akure, the capital of Ondo State, where those he cunningly took the land from
had to employ the help of different cult groups to chase him off their
property. The case gave his church popularity in the state as many Christians
believed he was being persecuted because of his faith, with only a few
recognizing the fact that he was actually the oppressor.
The
latest fraud case has, however, been adjourned to another time and it is the
belief of his partners that he will not be let off the hook this time around
just as it was done during his crisis with the PFN over his embezzlement of the
Benny Hinn’s $4 million crusade fund.
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