By Dipo Olowookere
Chairman of the Lagos State chapter of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Apostle Alex Bamgbola, has described the sack of Presiding Chaplain of Chapel of Christ the Light, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, Venerable Femi Taiwo, has one perfectly in order.
He said the Governing Council of the church, owned by the Lagos State government, “acted within its constitutional authority to terminate the appointment of Venerable Taiwo.”
Mr Bamgbola made this disclosure at a press conference on Tuesday in Lagos.
He said, “The Governing Council has the constitutional responsibility and authority to recruit and to terminate two officers who run the Chapel who are the presiding Chaplain, who is the senior officer and the Chaplain, who is the deputy.
“So, the presiding chaplain and the chaplain are officers of the chapel and officers of the government of Lagos State.
“With this clarification, it should be known by the general public that these two officers who run the chapel are strictly officers of the state government and they are subject to terms and conditions of employment of the state government.
“When this matter began, many well-meaning Christians and elders tried to look at things and see how to work on the issue so that it does not get to the point we have seen.
“Well, the fact is, having investigated the matter carefully and objectively, that is CAN Lagos State, we wish to state here today that the Governing Council that recruited Venerable Taiwo acted within its constitutional authority to terminate the appointment of Venerable Taiwo.”
Mr Taiwo was removed from office by the church’s Governing Council allegedly on the orders of the state government.
The incident reportedly occurred barely 24 hours after the cleric was believed to have had issues with wife of the Governor, Mrs Bolanle Ambode, which made many to believe that she influenced the sack of the man of God.
To make matters worse, Mr Taiwo was given only 24 hours to vacate his official residence.
Though the state government had denied influencing the termination of the appointment of Mr Taiwo, many are yet to believe this.
Commissioner for Information in the state, Mr Steve Ayorinde, told Punch that the cleric was sacked because of series of complaints about him from the church.
But Mr Taiwo’s boss, Rt Rev Michael Adeyemi, who is the head of the African Church, Ifako Diocese, described the sacked cleric as an upright man.
