Contractor Sues Oyedepo, Church Over Unpaid Fees

A firm, Paudemic International Limited  and its managing director, Abraham Olorunda, have dragged the registered trustees of the Living Faith Church Worldwide, popularly known as Winners’ Chapel, before the Ogun State High Court sitting at Ota over an alleged N29.532 million unpaid contract sum awarded by the church.

Also joined as defendants in the case are the founder of the church, Bishop David Oyedepo, and Covenant Microfinance Bank Limited.

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 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 averred 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.