PASTOR AKINADE'S WIFE, BROTHER FIGHT OVER CHURCH LEADERSHIP

A fresh crisis is currently brewing at Christ Apostolic Church, Lion of Judah, founded by the late Prophet Elijah Olufemi Akinade, who died recently at the age of 57.

According to reliably sources, Akinade did not appoint any successor before his death and so the leaders of the church are finding it difficult to agree on the person that would continue from where the popular televangelist stopped. 

Akinade was said to have operated the church like a one man enterprise, and only appointed pastors and evangelists to pastor his numerous branches in Lagos and Oyo State.

It was learnt that Prophet Akinade was fond of transferring any pastor at the church's headquarters to rural areas, whenever he feels such pastor was getting much patronage from worshippers. This, our source said he did to prevent such pastor from becoming more popular than him amongst the congregation. This was said to have continued unabated until his death after a brief illness.

The current crisis, sources revealed, arose when the extended family of the cleric appointed his younger brother, Pastor Akin Akinade, hubby of popular gospel artiste, Senwele Jesu, as the head of the church's headquarters in Dizengoff area, Iyana Church, Ibadan, Oyo State.

This, we were told, did not go down well with his wife, Lady Evangelist Augusta Oluwatoyin Akinade. The woman, our source said, appointed her younger brother to serve as the presiding pastor of CAC, Lion of Judah Headquarters in Egbeda area of Lagos. She allegedly did this in conjunction with her children and the Lagos-based pastors of the church.

As it is now, the church, we gathered, is operating like a rudderless ship, with no clear cut leader or authority.

“The family felt it was proper for a family member to take over the leadership of the church since Prophet Akinade did not appoint a successor, so they appointed Pastor Akin, who was not all that involved in the activities of the church before Akinade's death. When Evangelist Oluwatoyin discovered this, she decided to play a fast one by getting the support of church elders and pastors in Lagos and appointed her own brother, who used to head one of the 20 branches of the church in Lagos as the presiding pastor of the Lagos headquarters of the church in Egbeda area,” said our source.

Her action reportedly infuriated her husband's family, who are now at war with her. The family members were said to have disapproved the appointment of the woman's younger brother as the head of the church, and insisted that Pastor Akin, who is heading the Ibadan headquarters of the mission, is the presiding pastor of CAC, Lion of Judah.

But, Evangelist Oluwatoyin has supposedly sent a message back to the family that it was wrong for them to have appointed a leader for the church without carrying her along, which she said was why she had to take an urgent step 'to save the church from collapse.'

Sources revealed that the woman also based her action on the basis that Pastor Akin was not involved in the activities of the church, when Prophet Elijah Akinade was alive unlike her own brother, who had been a pastor in the mission for many years.

Efforts made to get the reactions of the parties involved in the disagreement proved abortive as at press time, but a source in the Lagos headquarters of the church confirmed the development, adding that something urgent would be done about the matter.

The late Prophet Elijah Olufemi Akinade had been taken to a hospital at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, when he collapsed during a church service. He was accompanied on the trip by his son, Obafemi.

 The popular prophet-cum-televangelist, who started his ministry in Ibadan, Oyo State, Southwest Nigeria, died on the night of Saturday April 30, 2011.

Prophet Akinade, whose church hosts a very large congregation, started as a chorister in the Christ Apostolic Church in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital under Prophet Samuel Kayode Abiara of the CAC, Agbala-Itura fame. From there, he rose to become a leader in the church, he later started CAC, Lion of Judah in Ibadan before moving to Lagos.

Sources had stated that the late cleric suddenly lost weight last year, which worshipers at his church thought was due to his frequent prayer and fasting and incessant visits to prayer mountains (Ori  Oke).

First Weekly learnt that the guest minister, who presided over the April 2011 edition of the church's 'Night of Destiny Recovery,' one Pastor Augustine from CAC, Agbala Itura led the congregation to a prayer for a quick recovery for the man of God as it was apparent that his health was not getting better. He was said to have prayed on his knees, requesting that God should heal the man so that he could handle the May edition of the programme. But the man gave up the ghost at last, he was buried in May 2011 in Ibadan amidst cries and wailings.

First Weekly was reliably informed that efforts are being made by elders and pastors in the church to bring the two warring factions to a round table and find a lasting solution to the problem 'so that the legacy of our founder would not be destroyed through some people's selfish ambitions.'

August 02, 2011