Joseph Olarenwaju Obembe, a former
head of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) and the Presiding Bishop of
Elshaddai Bible Church in Dolphin Estate, Lagos State has been accused by his business
partners of acting criminally in a crude oil deal. The bishop’s accusers allege
that the cleric sought to cheat them out of a huge amount of cash after some
prospective investors offered $9 million for an oil deal.
In December 2010, Mr. Obembe filed a
lawsuit in which he accused his partners of forgery and altering the
letter-head of Elshaddai Petroleum Limited with intent to dupe his company to
the tune of N100 million. However, his witnesses at the trial as well as other
partners contradicted his claims, stating that the Bishop was himself
responsible for any fraud that happened in their business relationship.
Testifying recently before
Justice Okunnu of the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja, a defense witness,
Julius Sajuyigbe, asserted that the Bishop’s greed and intent to defraud broke
their relationship.
Helyn Aninye, a witness called by
Bishop Obembe, had in her earlier testimony portrayed the bishop as the traitor
whose greed caused the collapse of the business relationship.
Court testimonies have painted the
picture that the now soured business journey started in 2006, when the
partners, who include, Mr. Remi Folorunsho, Pastor Olagunju, Bishop Obembe and
Mr. Sajuyigbe signed an agreement to pursue an oil bloc.
Witnesses disclosed that the
partners agreed to use Bishop Obembe’s Elshaddai Petroleum Limited as the
bidding firm for an oil bloc as it was too late to incorporate another company.
in addition, the partners decided that Bishop Obembe’s spiritual profile might
help their hunt for an oil bloc.
Mr. Sajuyigbe said he facilitated
the meeting of all the partners, adding that Ms. Aninye was the last partner to
join, bringing the number of partners to five.
The partners appeared set to
flourish when they won their bid for the oil bloc marked ’294′ in the Niger
Delta for $51 million. Unable to finance the business, the partners went
searching for investors in their oil bloc.
Ms. Aninye told the court that all
partners were made directors in the El Shaddai Petroleum Company. She added
that the firm had not filed all the relevant forms to be registered before the
partnership began crumbling.
She also disclosed that the original
owners of Elshaddai Petroleum Limited were Bishop Obembe, his wife and kids,
but that after the successful bid for an oil bloc, the new partners were to
become the new owners and directors of the registered oil company to continue
their new business.
A defense witness, Mr. Sajuyigbe,
said 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. The
witness said he served as Finance Director while Pastor Olagunju had no special
function but served as liaison for the team abroad because he is based outside
the country.
Several witnesses testified that
some investors showed interest in the oil bloc and offered to fund the
business. However, the partners agreed to accept one of the prospective
investors, IGI, introduced by the bishop.
However, Mr. Sajuyigbe, who
corroborated testimony of Ms. Aninye alleged that Bishop Obembe concealed the
actual value of IGI’s investment, which was $10 million. He told the court that
the bishop declared only $1 million to the other partners, and demanded 10% of
the $1 million as tithe to his church.
The witness said they later
discovered from reliable sources that the actual amount offered by IGI was $10
million. He revealed that the discovery led to a rift in the partnership. He
told 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 their
partnership told us that the other partners opened a new domiciliary account
and advised IGI to pay its investment there. He added that the partners
informed the bishop of their move, which was designed to checkmate his fraud. A
reportedly furious Bishop Obembe then decided to file a lawsuit accusing the
other partners of “forgery” of letter-head to in order to enter into
correspondence and for the purpose of opening a new account.
Further hearing was adjourned
till January 29, 2014.
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