Bishop David Oyedepo, the presiding Bishop of the Living Faith Church Worldwide, otherwise known as Winners Chapel, has emerged victorious in a long-drawn legal battle that lasted for 19 years against Ghanaian-born clergy Bishop George Adjeman.
The Supreme Court of Ghana, in its judgment, ordered that Adjeman should vacate the premises of Winners Chapel, Ghana, which he has used for the last 19 years. The Court also varied the decision, ordering that Adjeman render an account of his stewardship to Winners Chapel International from January 16th, 2004, until the present day. Additionally, Adjeman was ordered to pay any monies due to the church with interest at the prevailing commercial bank interest rate.
However, the Court set aside an order by the Court of Appeal that restrained Adjeman and others from using the name Winners Chapel for their breakaway group.
Trouble started when Adjeman thought it wise to rebel against his former boss. A Ghanaian chartered accountant and protege of Oyedepo, he was considered a faithful servant and even held sway in Oyedepo’s absence on mission trips. Adjeman was the only non-Nigerian consecrated Bishop in the history of the Living Faith Church. In recognition of his faithfulness and a new indigenization policy of the Living Faith Church, he was transferred to Ghana in 1996. Later, he was recalled and then sent in 2002 to head the network of 14 churches spread across Ghana.
Unknown to Oyedepo, Adjeman re-registered the church in his own name when government authorities in Ghana called for churches to be registered as companies. Adjeman went ahead to re-register the church without informing the Nigerian church of the new regulatory development or seeking their consent. In 2004, when he refused to continue remitting the $60,000.00 monthly church income initially sent to the Nigerian headquarters, the headquarter church in Nigeria decided to transfer him to Ibadan Diocese. The remittance of money from all branches to the headquarters church to fund various programs was a practice of Winners Chapel at the time. After the money was remitted, certain percentages would be returned to the branches. Adjeman notified church members that he was being transferred because of his refusal to remit money to Nigeria. Some members supported him and encouraged him to disregard the transfer, which gave him the courage to stage a hostile takeover of the Ghanaian branches of Winners Chapel and declare independence. And thus began the drama.
While some Ghanaians felt it was wrong for a Ghanaian church to remit money to a Nigerian church, others felt that Adjeman was disloyal to his former boss in Nigeria and should leave the church using the proper procedures, without taking over any of the church’s properties, members, or name. The Ghanaian Pentecostal Fellowship (GPF) tried to intervene. It ordered Adjeman to vacate the Winners Chapel premises, as the church was built with seed funding from Nigeria. While attempts were being made to resolve the ownership crisis, Winners Chapel International quickly established another place of worship to stop the confusion. They were now referred to in Ghana as the Oyedepo Original Body (WCI Ghana), while Adjeman’s group was referred to as Winners Chapel Ghana (WCG) or Winners’ Ghana. Thus began a long legal battle that would last the next 19 years in the Ghanaian judicial system.
As the crisis progressed, the GPF advised Oyedepo to settle Adjeman, allowing him to start his own ministry. Oyedepo initially disagreed, questioning if that wouldn’t be like a bribe. Adjeman demanded $50,000 as severance, along with the church mission house and a car. Oyedepo vehemently opposed this, but the GPF encouraged him to see it as a way of setting up a son. After consulting with church elders, Oyedepo agreed to approve $100,000 but without a car or mission house. This did not sit well with Adjeman, and he decided to take the church for himself.
However, after six years, Adjeman reportedly felt remorseful and visited Oyedepo in 2010, against the advice of his lawyers. There, Oyedepo agreed to let Adjeman have all the properties but required him to drop the “Winners’ Chapel” tag from his church name, which was the root of the contention. Adjeman initially agreed but changed his mind upon returning to Ghana, especially because his congregation was unhappy with his decision, as it made them look like usurpers.
Today, despite having to start all over again after the unfortunate split, Winners Chapel International currently has a network of over 250 churches in Ghana.
