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From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The Abuja division of the Federal High Court has shifted proceedings in the suit on the controversy trailing the appointment of the presiding pastor of First Baptist Church, Garki, Abuja, to July 6.
Justice Obiora Egwuatu had on April 7, ordered parties to maintain status-quo antebellum pending the hearing of the suit.
On the next adjourned date, parties are expected to brief the court on the terms of the settlement.
The suit is seeking to halt the confirmation of the acting pastor of the church, Rev Tom Takpatore, who asked parties in the matter to finalize moves for reconciliation and report back to the court at the next adjourned date.
The Plaintiffs, Bayo Ajagbe and Gbadejo Adedeji, representing a group of concerned elders of the church, are claiming that the process for the appointment of Rev Takpatore was skewed to give him an unfair advantage over his competitors.
Documents cited by our correspondent accused the church leadership of failing to follow the church’s constitution in its day to day activities including the former pastor making himself a signatory to the account of the church, a situation, which made the elders demand that the handover notes from the former pastor should be made available to members for scrutiny.
An affidavit sworn to by one of the church officers who signed the extant constitution many years ago is challenging the copy filed at the CAC as mutilated.
According to the affidavit, the certified true copy of the constitution, which the faction led by Reverend Tom Takpatore is relying upon and contained in the CAC file has been mutilated and no longer bear semblance to the one that was signed by relevant church officers.
However, the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/432/2022, filed before Justice Egwuatu, has the Incorporated Trustees of First Baptist Church, Garki, Abuja and current “acting pastor” Rev. Tom Takpatore as first and second Respondents.
Following the court action, a reliable source within the church, who carved for anonymity told our correspondent that a mediation committee was then set up to find an amicable solution to the leadership crisis and that, a series of meetings held on the 15th, 18th and 19th April 2022 ended in a stalemate after the representatives of the Church leadership refused to consider the terms of settlement of the Concerned Elders but insisted they withdraw the case unconditionally.
It would be recalled that, at a church-in-conference held on March 20, this year, it was a free for all as a particular faction in the dispute allegedly invited thugs to prevent the opponents from having their way.
It was initially believed that the Nigerian Baptist Convention, an umbrella body of Baptist Churches in Nigeria, will midwife the reconciliation process.
“The dilemma however is that the current President of the Convention will ultimately chair the decision-making body on the issue that he is at the very nucleus,” a church member opined.
