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. Until his recent but abrupt removal, Mr. Oyakhilome was
consistently listed as a prominent
trustee, since 1996, when the branch
was established.

The face-off between the Founder of Believers Love World (aka Christ
Embassy) Chris Oyakhilome, and his
wife, Anita, has taken a new
dimension with Mr. Oyakhilome now
removed as a trustee of a United
Kingdom’s branch of the church. Chris Oyakhilome and his ex-wife
Anita 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 his recent but abrupt removal, 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. That same year 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 claim 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. Divorce Mr. Oyakhilome is locked in a divorce
battle with his wife, who has filed an
action at a London court to end their
20-year-old marriage. Mrs. Oyakhilome accuses her husband
of “unreasonable behaviour”, a
charge Mr. Oyakhilome has repeatedly
denied.
At a recent church meeting, Pastor
Chris, as he is widely referred to by Christ Embassy members, warned
church members against analysing the
squabble between him and Anita as
the church is not a political party. He reportedly described his wife as a
“bitter and angry” woman who is
being influenced by bad friends who
are out to seek his downfall. He
accused his wife of seeking to
overpower the authorities of the elders she met when she joined the
Christian ministry. As the divorce battle rages, Mrs.
Oyakhilome’s profile has been pulled
down from the church’s website. SOURCE: PREMIUM TIMES

Chaii company divided men of God indeed

THINGS FALL APART.

It is well

Misselocon:
It is well

Say what?...........IT IS NOT WELL. The Business Centre is collapsing!