The British Government, through its Charity
Commission, has said it is not investigating
Winners Chapel International, a church belonging
to the popular pentecostal clergyman, Dr. David
Oyedepo.
A spokeswoman for the commission said the CC
was only considering the financial information
provided by the church.
The CC is responsible for registering eligible
organisations in England and Wales that are
established for only charitable purposes, taking
enforcement action when there is malpractice or
misconduct and ensuring charities meet their
legal requirements.
It also provides information on their activities
each year, making appropriate information about
each registered charity widely available,
providing online services and guidance to help
charities run as effectively as possible.
Responding to an email enquiry by our
correspondent, the commission’s spokeswoman,
Sarah Hitchings, said that the consideration of
the church’s finances by the British Government
did not qualify as conducting an investigation on
the church.
Hitchings said, “We are not ‘investigating’ the
charity. In the terms of our regulatory work, an
‘investigation’ is another word for ‘statutory
inquiry’, the highest level of our investigatory
work.
“We are not investigating Winners Chapel; we
have an operational case open into the charity.
“We have now met with the trustees, and are
satisfied that we have no regulatory concerns
relating to conflicts of interest and the reputation
management of the charity. We are still
considering financial information supplied by the
charity to reach a conclusion on the issue of
financial management,” the spokeswoman
stated.
She however added, “At this stage, we cannot
comment on the details of the case; however, it
is our usual policy to report on the outcomes of
our work once we have reached a conclusion.
Please note, we are not ‘investigating’ the
charity.”
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