Former President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Bishop Olanrewaju Obembe is at the centre of a messy fight.
He is at war with business associates over a $10m Oil block deal turned sour
.
Here is a reproduction of the report as sourced by naijacelebrities.net
'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.
SaharaReporters
learnt that the Bishop was specifically accused of declaring only $1
million to his partners instead of $10 million that was the actual offer
by the investors. In addition, the bishop’s accusers allege that he
also insisted that 10% of the $1 million he fraudulently declared as the
total receipts must be paid as tithe to his church.
'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 last
Wednesday 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 SaharaReporters 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'
...source saharareporters.com
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