Lies won’t solve crisis in Assemblies Of God Church, group warns 

The leadership crisis that has factionalised the Assemblies of God Church Nigeria will not end with the series of lies and confusion being created in the minds of the public using the media, a faction of the church, loyal to the General Superintendent of the Church, Rev Prof Paul Emeka, said, yesterday.

The group, therefore, asked the faction of the church led by Rev. Chidi Okoroafor to honour the invitation by the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, relating to the management of over N3b deposited in the church’s welfare scheme, otherwise known as “Assemblies of God Ministers Benefit Scheme (AMGBS).”

Reacting to the development, Okoroafor’s General Secretary, Rev Godwin Amaowoh, dismissed the petition as “baseless and frivolous.” He stated that it was not the duty of the Prof Emeka led group to ask their members to honour the so-called invitation from the police.

Explaining that there was nothing like mismanagement or missing N3b from the Assemblies of God Church Ministers Welfare Scheme, he said the scheme was duly registered and audited annually in accordance with the constitution of the Church.

Amaowoh said those managing the scheme were people of integrity, adding that no retired Minister had complained that he had not been paid his entitlement in line with the scheme.

The fund is said to be the accumulated pension fund of retired ministers (being the 10 percent of their salaries, when in active service), and from which they were expected to be paid pension on retirement.

It would be recalled that crisis broke out in the church in 2014, when Rev Okoroafor’s group announced the suspension of Rev Emeka, as the General Superintendent of the church, leading to the formation of two factions and series of unending litigations.