The
face-off between the Founder of Believers Love World (aka Christ
Embassy) Chris Oyakhilome, and his wife, Anita, has taken a new
dimension!
According to an exclusive report on PremiumTimes, Mr.
Oyakhilome is no longer a trustee of the United Kingdom’s branch of the
church.
With Mr. Oyakhilome’s removal, his wife, Anita, now
presides over a seven-man Board of Trustees of the N8.2 billion rich
branch, church documents reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES have shown.The six
other members of the board are:
Obi Chiemeka,
Ifeoma Onubogu,
Nkem Odiakah,
Raymond Okocha,
Tony Obi and
Uche Onubogu, all pastors believed to be loyal to Mrs. Oyakhilome.
Mrs.
Oyakhilome has for long headed the U.K branch of the church but her
husband, before what appears his sudden removal, had since inception
presided over the Board of Trustees of the charity.
The new
development suggests that in addition to the matrimonial squabble the
couples are having, an intense power struggle and battle for the soul of
the U.K. branch of the church might be going on between the estranged
lovers and partners as well.
In fact, Mr. Oyakhilome had dropped
the first hint that there might be a hierarchical row in the church when
he reportedly accused his wife of acting like an equal and wanting to
overpower the authorities of the elders she met in the church.
PREMIUM
TIMES’ review of documents filed by the church’s UK branch to the
Charity Commission of England and Wales has now shown that Mr.
Oyakhilome is no longer a registered trustee of a branch of his church
with total asset worth over N8.2 billion (£31 million). Until he was
recently abruptly removed, Mr. Oyakhilome was consistently listed as a
prominent trustee since 1996, when the branch was established.
Contrary
to the church’s practice of stating reasons for removal of trustees in
the past, no reason has been given for the removal of Pastor Oyakhilome.
It is unclear whether explanation for the action would be given in the
church’s annual report for 2013 which is yet to made public by the
charity commission.
According to the church’s financial
statement, in 2009, five pastors were removed from the church’s board of
trustees after they resigned from their positions and two others were
appointed. A Charity Commission spokesperson, Sarah Hitchings, told
PREMIUM TIMES that it was not the concern of the commission to know why
charities remove or replace their trustees.
The international
office of Christ Embassy refused to respond to questions this newspaper
sent through email neither did the international audit and accounting
firm, Mazars, appointed by the Charity Commission to run the affairs of
the church after it opened statutory inquiry into the finances of the
church following suspicious payment it made to connected parties worth
N941 million between 2008 and 2012.
However, church insiders said
the removal of the pastor was a plot by his wife to take total control
of the affairs of the branch even as her relationship with her husband
of two decades deteriorates. With his ouster, those who should know said
Mr. Oyakhilome has lost the locus to interfere in the affairs of that
branch of the church.
“He has been effectively sidelined,” a church
insider said. “The law in the U.K. does not recognise him as an
interested party in that branch of the church anymore.”
Anita herself loses control
But
even the seven-man board led by Mrs. Oyakhilome has itself lost control
of the affairs of the church. On August 11, the U.K. charity
commission effectively sidelined her board and appointed an interim
manager to take over the management of the church.
In what it
described as a “temporary and protective measure,” the commission
appointed Rod Weston of the international audit and accounting firm,
Mazars, to take over the running of the church.
The Commission
says it is investigating the church over “a number of serious concerns
relating to the use of charitable funds, in particular large connected
party payments and the potential misapplication of grant funding.”
Until
investigation is concluded, Mr. Weston would preside “over the
management of the charity, including its staff, assets, interests, and
relations with third parties,” the commission said. He is also expected
to discharge the functions of the church’s trustees and take steps
necessary to secure and take control of the assets of the church.
The
commission however added that the activities of the church would not be
suspended by the appointment as the Interim Manager is expected to work
with the pastors of the church to ensure its religious and charity
activities continue as before.
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