Oyedepo’s church divided over prayer for GEJ
konknaijaboy | On 27, Jan 2015
Source: Ent-Redefined
Attempts by Bishop David Oyedepo of the Winners Chapel, Ota, Ogun State, southwest Nigeria, to make members of his congregation pray for President Goodluck Jonathan to win the 14 February Presidential election backfired on Sunday when some members refused to stand up from their seats to pray for Jonathan.
Bishop Oyedepo had asked members to stand up to pray for Jonathan who came to the church for prayers to win the election, but some members of the congregation who were not happy with Jonathan’s performance refused to stand up. They remained seated and refused to pray for Jonathan.
President Jonathan, with some of his aides, the Chief of Staff to the President, Jones Arogbofa and the Executive Secretary, Christian Pilgrim Board, Mr. Kennedy Okpara, worshipped at the church during its third service after they arrived the church premises in a helicopter.
Nigerians were provoked by the statement falsely credited to the General Overseer of the church, Bishop David Oyedepo, saying he would open the gates of hell upon anyone who opposed Jonathan’s re-election.
Some of the bloggers even claimed that he warned his church members against voting for the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Muhammadu Buhari, and that anyone who went against this remains a candidate of hell.
The bloggers’ false interpretation of Oyedepo’s admonition irked Nigerians who saw this as an affront on their mentality and wondered if Oyedepo was God or if he actually had the keys to hell.
Unfortunately, however, many of these bloggers and news writers were not in the church during the President’s visit, but they all attributed their news to sources within the church.
Spending very few minutes, Jonathan, who said he did not want to say much so that Nigerians would not think he only attended the church to campaign, urged the members to pray for the country ahead of the general elections.
“There are various predictions concerning the election, but I trust God to take control of the situation,” Jonathan said.
“I commend Bishop Oyedepo for his commitment to the work of God and education, without education we can’t achieve much,” he added.
He asked that since God always answered prayers of the church members, they should pray for God to give the President the wisdom and strength to rule the country and the unusual grace to lead the nation.