Oshoffa passed on in 1985.
Owodunni, now an Octogenarian, in a
recent publication, said he was actually the man ordained by Oshoffa himself as
a successor but that some forces within the church upturned the directive,
blaming it as the major cause of disunity within the church.
Recalling events shortly after the
passage of Oshoffa, Owodunni said, “We have already taken steps for unity many
times, even right from inception when Papa Oshoffa passed away.
“I suggested to someone that we
should not visit the issue of the selection of Pastor. Even though I knew I had
been chosen as the successor, I was not in a hurry.
“The person that they were planning
to select as Pastor was the most senior person in the Church at the time. He
was the one leading us before Papa Oshoffa came down from Port Novo and he was
next in rank to Papa Oshoffa. I argued that we should continue with that
arrangement until the Holy Spirit show us that I have been chosen as successor
to Papa Oshoffa.”
Owodunni lamented that his
colleagues in the clergy sneered at his warning and that its consequences had
been dire as could be seen in the succession history of the church.
He particularly recalled an incident
in 1997: “I started sitting on the Pastor’s chair in the inner altar when the
Church celebrated 50 years because the Holy Spirit said, ‘Go and sit on it.’
“As soon as I finished delivering
the sermon on that day in 1997, I went into the inner altar, sat on it and I
declared from that day…that ‘anyone else who sits on it will crumble.’”
He said the Holy Spirit spoke through
him affirming that he, and no one else should succeed Oshoffa, which had
accounted for mystery deaths in the ranks of those who were appointed to the
position of Supreme Head.
Owodunni cited how he initially
battled the late Pastor Abiodun Bada, who was the first person to be appointed
to succeed Oshoffa. “After I took Bada to court, even up to the level of
Supreme Court…the Holy Spirit told me, ‘No more, the remaining battle is
spiritual and the Holy Spirit will spearhead the battle.’”
He noted that Bada was head for a
few years before his death and that Pastor Hunsu Ajose was appointed against
his warning, but that Ajose only spent six days in the position as he died,
thus vindicating him. He stressed that he was not rejoicing over the deaths but
only to amplify his point.
But on why Oshoffa’s son, Pastor
Ebenezer Oshoffa, who was made the Spiritual Leader and has retained the
position 14 years on is still in the saddle, Owodunni explained that it was a
strategic move by the church leaders.
He said the leaders knew that Papa
Oshoffa was wrought in the world beyond that his directive had been flouted
here on earth, and that if his son was put there, he would not kill him, so
that the name of the church would not be brought to disrepute.
“If anything happened to him at that
time, the world would have mocked Oshoffa, saying that he killed his own son,”
he stressed.
Owodunni, therefore, urged his
colleagues in the CCC to uphold all the traditions laid down by Oshoffa and
obey the church constitution, stressing that everything was dictated by the
Holy Spirit.
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