Jaw-dropping allegations of financial impropriety and immorality have been levelled against the General Overseer of Foursquare Gospel Church (FGC), , Reverend Wilson Badejo.

The allegations are contained in a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by some members of the church.
The EFCC, according to a reliable source, commenced investigations into the matter on Friday when it quizzed some leaders of the church.
One of those behind the petition against Badejo is a former Protocol Officer of the Church, Reverend Lawrence Alabi Ashaolu.
He exclusively told National LIFE in Lagos that Reverend Badejo allegedly diverted a whooping one hundred and three million one hundred and sixteen thousand four hundred and fifty-three Naira seventy-five Kobo (N103,116,453.75) between 1999 and 2006, being the church money designated as General Overseer’s Vote to an undisclosed account.

Said Ashaolu: “I have been part of FGC since 1967 when the membership was not up to 30. I was at the National Headquarters of the Church at 62/66, Akinwunmi Street, Alagomeji, Yaba, . I served the church in the capacity of the National Sunday School Coordinator for more than 15 years. As National Protocol Officer and an official in the Administrative Department of the church, I kept records for the church. I served the then General Overseer (G.O.), Reverend Farombi diligently and he did well in the sight of God and man. Badejo succeeded him as G.O.
“Although I don’t work directly with the accounts books of the church, during the church convention, all members are privileged to see the records of financial transactions of the church.”

Ashaolu said that he midwifed the idea of the G.O’s vote during the administration of Reverend Farombi when he discovered that the man of God was often financially incapable of meeting some members’ and visitors’ financial needs from the 10 percent being remitted to him as imprest.
“In my capacity as the National Protocol Officer, I discovered that the G.O was unable to meet the financial needs of some members. I was not comfortable with it as they would perceive the man of God as stingy. When I got home, I prayed to God for direction and God directed me to write a request for a pool account – G.O’s Vote - where money from various branches of the church would be remitted so that the GO could use it to help indigent members of the church and other members of the society. I consulted the then General Secretary of the Church, Reverend Adesina, and we proceeded to meet the G.O and then the board for approval and ratification by the general convention of the church. And it was done. I kept close watch over the vote. I opened an income and expenditure book where money coming in and going out was properly recorded. And the then G.O made use of it judiciously and religiously. But when Badejo came into office, the G.O’s vote turned out to become a conduit pipe. The money used to be lodged in Peak Merchant Bank from where Badejo withdrew and lodged it into an unknown account.”

Continuing, Ashaolu said, “When Badejo came into office as G.O, he used to send me to the bank to lodge and also withdraw money from the G.O’s Vote account operated by the church. On one of the errands, I went to the bank but was amazed when the bank told me that Badejo had authorised the transfer of a lumpsum to another bank and so, there was insufficient fund. I was furious. When I got back to the office, I confronted the National Treasurer, Reverend Olasunkanmi, on why they should send me to the bank when the money in the account had been transferred to another account. But the Treasurer denied knowledge of the transfer. I went to the G.O, Wilson Badejo, and I said, ‘Sir, I was unable to withdraw the money’. He asked why and I told him that the bank said he (Badejo) had instructed the transfer of three million naira to an undisclosed account. He admitted being the person who authorised the transfer. I told him that the bank asked me to sign a document to that regard, which they gave me a copy and that I would lodge it with the National Treasurer for record purposes. But the G.O resisted my move. He took the documents from me and I left the office.”

Ashaolu said he refused to be confrontational at that stage. Rather, he sought spiritual intervention. “When I got home, I prayed and sought the face of God concerning the messy financial transaction. I was spiritually angry, as I don’t want to be part of such mess. I had to apply for my annual leave, which was granted.

“Upon resumption from leave, I discovered that he (Badejo) had changed the system of financial transactions with banks. And I stopped going to the bank. He employed an accountant in the office whose activities I monitored considering the antecedent of Badejo.”
To his chagrin, Ashaolu said that the fraud persisted. According to him, he informed senior ministers of the church as well as the international body of the church, who tried without success to call Badejo to order. He, therefore, had no alternative but to petition the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

EFCC angle
In a document made available to National Life dated, March 24, 2009, and addressed to the Director of Operations of EFCC, Ashaolu stated: “I discovered that the General Overseer’s fund, which is earmarked for some specific projects, were not being accounted for by his office. I wrote to the Board of Directors of the church about my findings and pleaded that a proper investigation be carried out to ascertain where this fund was kept since, according to the church’s constitution, all church funds must be kept in the bank account. The findings showed that Dr. Wilson Badejo had diverted the funds to an unknown account. Up till this moment, he has refused to disclose where he kept the sum of N103,116,453.75, being accumulated sum from 1999 to 2006 belonging to the church”.

Corroborating the allegations, Dr. E.O. Omowo, a Consultant physician/marriage counsellor, Living Faith Specialist Hospital Limited, Surulere, Lagos, in a document also made available to National Life dated, October 21, 2008, said that at a ‘Family Forum’ held at Foursquare Camp, Ajebo, on October 16 and 17, 2008, Badejo “trivialised the monumental fraud by absolving himself from the heinous crime since a Foursquare ‘member who worked in the bank opened the account for me’. The General Overseer (G.O) further worked on the people by saying that money has never been his problem and thrilled some of the undiscerning attendees when he added that he has N500,000,000 for the church elsewhere. My fallout with the G.O. hinges on my unwavering and uncompromising stand on the Biblical principles of integrity, righteousness, transparency and accountability, which I had made known to him in July 2004.”

On the report of the seven-member elders’ forum set up to look into the case of financial transactions of Badejo, Omowo maintained that the forum indicted the G.O. without punitive actions being taken against him accordingly.
“Strangely, it appears that their recommendation did not go down well with the G.O. and the Board of Directors, a situation which led to the opening of ‘can of worms’ and public disgrace at the ‘Family Forum’. Midway into the meeting, some of the attendees walked out in tears. Some others vowed that they would leave the church. What an embarrassment to the whole body of Christ in an unbridled attempt to protect one man’s interest. It was, indeed, a big shame,” Omowo lamented.

Also, Ashaolu revealed that when some concerned ministers rose against Badejo’s alleged fraudulent activities, in a desperate move to cover up the alleged crime, “Dr. Badejo organised the removal of the computer hard disc, where financial records of the church were saved, to cover up his financial misdeed. He alleged that the hard disc was removed by robbers. But the man who removed the hard disc has continued to demand for ransom which Badejo has continued to pay to him.”

Ashaolu said that he then reported the case to “Marvel Akpoyibo, now Lagos State Police Commissioner, who was then the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of InternationalAirport, since he was once a member of our parish and a Sunday school teacher. He said that the issue should not be blown and promised to talk to Badejo which he did. But he (Badejo) refused to change.”

Apart from the controversial G.O’s count, embattled Badejo is also accused of gross breach of the constitution of the church. He is alleged to be the sole signatory to the church’s account, contrary to the provisions of the constitution. He is also accused of intolerance of criticism and opposition. “Any minister who complains of his dubious and fraudulent misappropriations is threatened with guns and charms by his hired thugs. These incessant threats have made some of the church ministers resign for fear of being harmed. In May, 2007, Badejo fraudulent misappropriated the sum of over N18 million, which he used to celebrate his 60th birthday for three days,” Ashaolu further alleged.

Electoral fraud, which some pundits have said is the bane of Nigerian politics, has not spared the church as the second term of Badejo is also alleged to have been characterised by rigging. In a referendum conducted to choose who leads the church, Ashaolu alleged that the whole exercise was a charade, as it swam through the murky waters of conventional politics. “Knowing that there would be an election in July, 2004 for the position Badejo was occupying as the G.O, he asked the board to plead with me to drop the allegations knowing that it would narrow his chances of taking a second term in office. He even threatened to jail me if I don’t withdraw the letter from the board. This threat incurred the anger of one of the board members, Rev. David Adelaja, who warned Badejo to desist from threatening me. And because of this threat, Adelaja resigned his position as a board member.

“Because of his connection with the then President, Olusegun Obasanjo, and the then Inspector General of Police, Badejo promised to deal with me and was never remorseful for his misdeeds. On the eve of the election in July, 2004, policemen armed with handcuffs and guns besieged the election ground at Ajebo, looking for me. When I was going to the camp, I prayed to God and He told me to be cautious. I entered the camp in the night when I would not be identified. The policemen harassed so many ministers. But I surfaced on the said day while the election was going on. While I was going to the venue, the Lord told me that they were going to rig the election. It was a ‘Yes or No’ vote since he was being presented for second term. I walked straight to where they were counting the votes and I saw the atrocities. I shook my head in disbelief.”
Ashaolu thought he was doing the G.O and the church good as the Bible says that when any of the “brethren” is doing the wrong thing, he or she should be called to order so that such a person would not, at the end of the spiritual race, miss the mark of the “high calling” which is making heaven. But he was wrong as he said that the G.O. visited him with vendetta of grave existential magnitude. “While all these were going on, I made frantic efforts to advise him as a friend but he was grandstanding. He told me that if I was not comfortable with his leadership, I should resign! I refused to resign. I reported him to the board for breach of trust bestowed on him by the church as well as financial and moral impropriety in 2004. But he abused his position to prevent himself from being investigated. The board asked me to come for questioning and I did. I explained everything to them and they were amazed. They pleaded with me to forget about the case.”

After the election, he said, “Badejo started issuing queries to all the pastors seen with me during the election. And when the situation became unbearable, I met my lawyer, Femi Falana. Falana called him and a meeting was held at Airport Hotel, Ikeja. Badejo appealed for calm and apologised for his misdeeds promising to pay all my entitlements that he had withheld because I was always confronting him. But after the convention, he changed his mind again and he posted me out of the headquarters so that his deeds would not be monitored any longer. “He subjected me to untold hardship. When I discovered that there was ownership tussle in the house I am occupying, I requested for a loan to enable me relocate with my family but he refused to approve the loan. He retired me from the church and refused to pay me my entitlements,” a visibly enraged Ashaolu revealed.

Badejo is also alleged to be engaging in illicit and immoral affairs with members of his church, even married women. According to Ashaolu, “Badejo is a specialist in ‘single counselling’:biggrin:. He can be in a room with a lady for two to three hours in the pretence of counselling her. He did this to Bimbo (surname withheld) whom he always carries to conventions, some time ago. During a night vigil at the headquarters, he engaged in a nocturnal counselling with a housewife and his wife went in and interrupted it. It was embarrassing. All these are filthy things that must not be heard in the House of God. And any attempt to advise him is always resisted and visited with retaliation.
“I will walk to his office and tell him, ‘change, Sir’. He will yell at me, ‘, go out of my office’.”

However, the head of media unit of the church, Shola Oshunkeye, reacting on behalf of Reverend Badejo and the church, denied all the allegations levelled against him. He posited that Badejo cannot take unilateral decision on any financial transaction of the church as there are due processes to be followed. He also maintained that the accuser, Ashaolu, was sacked by the board of the church for acts that are antithetical to what the church stands for, adding that he failed to live within his financial means.

“There is no substance in the allegations. The accusations are borne out of malice. Reverend Lawrence Ashaolu is no longer in the employ of the church. He was sacked by the board of the Foursquare Gospel Church Continuing, he said that “the church runs a transparent accounting system. Badejo is not the sole signatory to the church’s account. There are due processes for withdrawal of money and every penny is accounted for. We are not aware of any letter or petition to the EFCC and the G.O has never been invited by any anticorruption agency for questioning”.

Foursquare Gospel Church dismisses fraud allegations against G.O Badejo

Posted on 03 May 2009 by admin The Foursquare Gospel Church Some elders of the church who spoke with National LIFE under condition of anonymity dismissed the allegation in its entirety and accused the petitioners of serving selfish purpose in then bid to destroy the Christian organisation.

The two petitioners, Reverend Lawrence Ashaolu and Dr. Funso Omowo had dragged the church and the General Overseer before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alleging fraudulent practices. The elders however, said while Reverend Ashaolu had ceased to be a staff of the Church following the termination of his appointment, Dr. Omowo has formed his own church and is on the verge of leaving Foursquare Gospel Church Both men, they said wrote their petition to spite the church over the disagreement they had with the entire organisation on the basis of their disloyalty and insubordination to the leadership and constitution of the church.

Contrary to the petition, the elders, who pleaded Badejo’s innocence, said the church, a non profit Bible-behaving organisation which has been in existence since 1955 has always conducted its activities, including management of its finances and administration in accordance with its accordance with the provisions of its Constitution registered under Part “C” of the Companies and Allied Matters Act. 1990.
They, therefore, urged Nigerians to disregard the petition and the antics of the duo.

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