A two-time member of the National Assembly, Senator Dino Melaye, has openly criticised the Living Faith Church Worldwide’s administrative policy, which now prescribes a new retirement age for the church leaders, saying that he stayed away from the church’s annual Shiloh event this year because of the exit of Bishop David Abioye.
Living Faith Church Worldwide is commonly known as Winners Chapel.
LEADERSHIP reports that Shiloh is an annual convocation of the Winners family worldwide every December.
Recall that in October, Bishops Thomas Aremu and David Abioye retired from the Living Faith Church, after decades of service.
Their retirements followed a review of the church’s administrative policy, called The Mandate, which now put retirement age for leaders at the church at 55.
Only the founder, Bishop David Oyedepo, aged 70, can now serve for life, according to the new policy.
The Mandate stipulates that future leaders of the church will be restricted to one or two terms of seven years, pending approval by the Board of Trustees (BoT).
But, taking to his Facebook page on Sunday evening, Melaye, a former member of the House of Representatives and one-time Senator representing Kogi West, said God did not retire Bishop Abioye, saying Oyedepo did, hence he avoided this year’s Shiloh.
He wrote: “I did not attend Shiloh 2024. Because Shiloh without Bishop Abioye is somehow. I can’t understand why Bishop Oyedepo, who is older, is not retired, and it is Bishop Abioye who is younger that should be forcefully retired. God did not retire Abioye, only Oyedepo did. Let’s watch..”
