Posted by By Dickson Adeyanju, Religious Affairs Correspondent on
FOLLOWING allegations of financial misappropriation raised in some quarters, the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) has instituted a panel to probe the conduct of the Evangelist Benny Hinn crusade held a couple of weeks ago.
FOLLOWING allegations of financial misappropriation raised in some quarters, the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) has instituted a panel to probe the conduct of the Evangelist Benny Hinn crusade held a couple of weeks ago.
National President of the PFN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, disclosed this in Lagos yesterday after an emergency meeting of the body's national executive council.
Oritsejafor, at the Christian Pentecostal Mission (CPM) Ajao, Mafoluku Lagos venue of the emergency meeting, revealed that the probe would enable the body take decisions on some of the controversial issues raised on the conduct of the crusade.
The report of the probe panel, he added, would also enable the PFN guard against future occurrence.
The probe panel which membership Oritsejafor refused to disclose has a three-week ultimatum to present its report.
His words: "The main thing that we have agreed upon is that a crusade has been held and concluded. We have set up a committee that will now look into the details of everything and they will report back to the house. And after that, we will know what to do and what to say. The committee will have about three weeks to do its work and report back to us.
"I don't want to go to that (disclosure of committee members' names) yet but the committee comprises of members of the Central Working Committee of PFN and a few others added to it," he said.
Oritsejafor said he would not want to be drawn into making comments on reports of financial misdeeds as published by some newspapers over the conduct of the crusade.
The report alleged that Benny Hinn was not particularly satisfied with the handling of some aspects of the crusade on which he claimed to have spent about $4 million (about N540 million) .
"I don't want to pre-empt the report of the committee. So I don't want to make any comment on any issue as far as that crusade is concerned now. I will rather wait for the committee to submit its report," Oritsejafor said.
Sources informed The Guardian that the Federal Government was disturbed over the report in the light of its current anti-corruption war. The government, The Guardian, learnt would also wait for the committee's report.
Attendance at the emergency meeting was high as members from the northern part of the country arrived early.
Also in attendance was Bishop Olanrewaju Obembe, President of the Lagos chapter of PFN and chairman, Local Organising Committee of the Benny Hinn Crusade.