WINNERS' CHAPEL DIVIDED .......

Attempts by Bishop David Oyedepo of the Winners Chapel, Ota, Ogun State,southwest Nigeria,
to make parts of his congregation pray to God for President Goodluck Jonathan to win the 14 February Presidential race backfired on Sunday when some members refused to stand up from their seats to pray for Jonathan.

Bishop Oyedepo had asked his members to stand up to pray for Jonathan who went to the church for prayers to God to win the race, however a few parts of the gathering who were not content with Jonathan's tenure refused to stand. They sat down and refused to pray for Jonathan.

This did not however prevent the Bishop from praying for Jonathan.

Members and pastors got more than they expected with the visit of President Goodluck Jonathan to the Headquarters in Ota, Ogun State, western Nigeria on Sunday, when the congregation was hit with condemnation and reactions from Nigerians.

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, worshiped at the congregation during the third service after arriving the church premises with a helicopter.

A couple of minutes after his arrival, the web ran buzzing with the news of his visit as bloggers grabbed whatever they could see. A large number of them wound up misquoting and misleading people in general in this way resulting in the outrage that greeted his visit.
Nigerians were incited by the announcement erroneously credited to the General Overseer of the congregation, Bishop David Oyedepo, saying he would open thegate of hell upon any individual who opposed Jonathan's re-race.

A portion of the bloggers even asserted that he warned his congregation  against voting in favor  of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Muhammadu Buhari, and that any individual who went against this were candidates of HELL.

The  false translation of Oyedepo's rebuke irritated Nigerians who saw this as an insult on their attitude and asked if Oyedepo was God or in any event if he really had the keys to hell

While a few Nigerians said they were stunned that Oyedepo could make such a remark, others went comic calling him a man of "SMALL god."
Shockingly, a large number of these bloggers and news peddlers were not in the congregation during the President's visit, however they all credited their news to sources inside the congregation.

Our correspondent who attended the third service of the church which was also attended by the President, his aides and politicians in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, from Lagos and Ogun states, reports that the drama however began from the church.

Before his preaching during the service, Bishop Oyedepo had given President Jonathan the opportunity to address the congregation.

 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.

He said his call for prayers was necessitated by the various predictions by leaders and clergymen about the elections and their outcome.

“There are various predictions concerning the election, but I trust God to take control of the situation,” Jonathan said.

He also commended Bishop Oyedepo for his commitment to God’s work and to education, adding that only through education of its citizens would a country develop and progress.

“I commend Bishop Oyedepo for his commitment to the work of God and education, without education we can’t achieve much,” he added.

While some of the church members were excited to see Jonathan, others grumbled, saying he had suddenly turned to the Winners Chapel after he discovered that he is no longer welcomed at the Redeemed Christian Church of God since a senior pastor of the church, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, is now the running mate to Buhari who is contesting against Jonathan in the election.

Some also whispered that the pastors in the country were not helping matters as they are not acting like prophets and leaders in the Bible who spoke truth to people in power.

After his speech, the Bishop asked that the church members stand up and pray for the President.

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.

Our correspondent noted that while many stood up and prayed fervently, some sat down, while some used the opportunity to pray for themselves.