Posted by By FEMI BABAFEMI on
The probe panel set up by the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) to investigate allegations of financial impropriety against organisers of the Benny Hinn Lagos crusade has cleared the National Co-ordinator of the programme, Bishop Olanrewaju Obembe and his team.
The probe panel set up by the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) to investigate allegations of financial impropriety against organisers of the Benny Hinn Lagos crusade has cleared the National Co-ordinator of the programme, Bishop Olanrewaju Obembe and his team.
Few minutes after the panel submitted the report that cleared Obembe and castigated American healing evangelist, Dr. Benny Hinn for causing disaffection through his utterance, another round of controversy was, however, sparked off by PFN National President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor who rejected the findings of the panel and set up another four-man committee to begin a fresh probe.
The PFN president's action has, however, been condemned by close associates of Bishop Obembe, who accused Pastor Oritsejafor of pursuing a hidden agenda which ultimate aim was to remove him as chairman of Lagos chapter of PFN.
According to the report of the probe panel made of Pastors George Amun, Brown Oyiso, Archbishop Abraham Oyeniran and Dr Moses Iloh, Bishop Obembe and his team were exonerated from allegations of financial impropriety while commending the team for producing accurate financial records and audited accounts provided by a professional audit firm.
In another breath, the report indicted Dr. Hinn for his ambitious expectations about the crusade.
The report also frowned at Hinn's statement claiming that he gave four million dollars for the crusade while he released only 1.5 million dollars to the Local Organisation Committee (LOC) in four installments.
Benny Hinn's expectation that 6 million people would attend the crusade each day was also described as presumptuous and the cause of his outburst which has generated the present controversy.
The sore point believed to have led to the fresh controversy was a portion of the report which indicted the national headquarters of PFN over its role in the crusade.
As a result, the national headquarters of PFN headed by Pastor Oritsejafor refused to adopt the report and set up another committee comprising Bishop Wale Oke, Mrs. Osa-Oni, the PFN National Auditor and Legal Adviser. The new committee was given up till July 7 to submit its report.
Sources revealed that at the meeting held yesterday, the body's legal adviser was said to have warned that rejecting the report would amount to contravening PFN's constitution since Benny Hinn never invited the National Headquarters to be part of the crusade in the first place.
Trouble started in PFN when some pastors began to level allegations of financial impropriety against organisers of the crusade following an outburst by Dr Hinn that the four million dollars he invested in the three day crusade went down the drain because only 4.3 million people attended as against his expectation of an 18 million attendance figure.
However, Hinn had been showing clips of the Lagos crusade on TBN since the past three weeks, showing that he may afterall have been pleased with the event.