Ahead of the 2015 presidential polls, Nigeria’s President, Goodluck Jonathan has dumped his erstwhile close friend and business associate , Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor in favor of the President of Living Faith Church (Winners Chapel), Bishop David Oyedepo, as the arrow head of support for his re-election battle among Nigerian Christians.
Bishop Oyedepo was among the prominent pastors who attended a meeting last month in Abuja with President Jonathan where the clerics vowed to give the president the votes of the Nigerian Christian Community.In the said meeting, efforts of some pastors from the war ravaged zones of the north to draw the attention of the President to the state of insecurity in the north was overshadowed by the fatherly voice of Bishop Oyedepo, who asked those present to concentrate on the forthcoming polls.
Bishop Oyedepo has also successfully mobilized church members and pastors to pray for the corporate existence of Nigeria and the protection of President Jonathan and his immediate family from arrows of darkness.
There is also an unwritten marching order which suggests that Bishop Oyedepo is favorable to Jonathan’s re-election and pastors under the ministry have surreptitiously started toeing the line.
It would be recalled that grateful Jonathan was at the popular Cannan land , Otta to worship two weeks earlier and to thank the Bishop for all the prayers and spiritual support from him and his congregation.
Sources within the Villa told our reporter that President Jonathan believes that a church with over 4 million members with lots of admirers like Winners Chapel is of more political asset than the gallivanting Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), whom they believe has lost his political value due to numerous scandals especially the South African Arms Smuggling scandal.
President Jonathan had also enlisted the support of popular pastors like Paul Enenche, Paul Adefarasin, Uma Ukpai among others in the fight to defeat Buhari. Uma Ukpai has promised to do all within his power spiritually and otherwise to ensure that the South East churches where he has tremendous follower-ship bows down to Jonathan.
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