Oyedepo, church dragged to court over alleged debt

David Oyedepo

Clergyman Bishop David Oyedepo and his church, the Living Faith Church Worldwide, aka Winners’ Chapel, have been dragged before the Ogun State High Court sitting at Ota over an alleged N29.532 million unpaid contract sum awarded by the church.

The plaintiffs are Paudemic International Limited and its managing director, Abraham Olorunda, reports Leadership.

Covenant Microfinance Bank Limited was also joined as defendants.

The claimants in suit number HCT/429/2020 demanded an interest of 221 percent per annum from October 2019 to the day judgment is delivered and, after that, 10 percent per annum from the judgment date until the final liquidation of the judgment sum, the newspaper reported.

The claimants, in their statement of claim, alleged that they were awarded a contract for the construction of a cylindrical steel tank at Covenant University, Ota through a letter dated October 20, 2008 in the sum of N14.108 million.

Olorunda said that they approached Covenant Microfinance Bank Limited, one of the conglomerates of the defendants, for an advanced payment guarantee of 75 percent of the contract sum, which was N10.581 million for the execution of the contract.

He said upon reaching the 90 per cent completion stage of the contract, the defendants issued a cheque of N10.581 million to the claimants, which said cheque was returned unpaid upon presentation on three different occasions by the claimants.

The claimants further averred that when they would not pay back the Advance Payment Guarantee due to the dishonoured cheque, the bank converted the same to a loan and started charging interest on the same.

The claimants stated that by a letter of February 11, 2019, they wrote to the agent of the defendants complaining about the returned cheque, and the defendants took no step to correct the complaints.