Nigerian lawmakers on Wednesday October 30 voted to strip the Living Faith Church (LFC), private individuals and other non-governmental organisations withdrawn.
LFC, also known as Winners Chapel, founded by Bishop David Oyedepo, is one of Nigeria’s largest and richest churches.
On October 6, Oyedepo, believed to own two private jets, had informed the congregation during the Tehillah Night Special edition at Covenant University Chapel, Canaanland, Ota, Ogun State, that the Nigerian government had approved an airstrip for the church.
But members of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Nigerian National Assembly, passed a resolution, asking the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace to withdraw the licence and stop the issuance of such licences to private individuals and organisations, citing security reasons.
The resolution followed a motion by Sulaiman Gumi, a member of the House.
The motion was titled, ‘’Need to stop issuance of airstrip licence to private individuals and organisations in the country.’’
Presenting the motion, Gumi, a northern Muslim, said ‘’Recall that in September 2014, a prominent religious leader was linked with a private jet used to convey $9.3m in cash to South Africa for the purchase of arms. The private jet which was seized by the South African authorities had two Nigerians and an Israeli on board (Sahara Reporters, 16th September 2014).
‘’The country currently experiences security challenges through illegal importation/proliferation of firearms and ammunition, importation of illicit drugs, coupled with the inability of our security agencies to pinpoint the source of supply of weapons to insurgents, kidnappers and separatists that have massacred thousands of Nigerians across the country.
‘’Granting airstrips to private individuals and organisations will aid illegal importation of firearms and hard drugs into the country, thus heightening insurgency, kidnapping, banditry and other vices that are seriously affecting the socio-economic development of the country.”
The motion was adopted by the lawmakers and referred to the Committees on Aviation and Legislative Compliance to ensure compliance/