Bishop David Oyedepo Denied US Visa Renewal

The General Overseer of the Living Faith Church Worldwide a.k.a Winners Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo was recently denied visa by the Lagos office of the United States Embassy.

The reason for this development is still unknown but he was told that he was not qualified for visa renewal and asked to try again.

Reports have said Oyedepo caused a scene at their office as he was adamant that he never violated any rules or committed any crime that will deny him a visa renewal.

Rumor has it that when the pastor told his bodyguards to get his phones so he can make some calls, he was warned that calls cannot be made inside the premises.

Bishop Oyedepo is yet to release any statement on this issue.

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David O. Oyedepo (born September 27, 1954) is a Nigerian preacher, Christian author, businessman, architect and the founder and presiding Bishop of the megachurch Faith Tabernacle in Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria, and Living Faith Church Worldwide, also known as Winners’ Chapel International.

The Winners’ Chapel International network of churches is located in over 300 cities, in all states of Nigeria, and in several cities in 45 African nations, Dubai, the United Kingdom and the United States. Oyedepo has been seen as one of the pioneers of the Christian charismatic movement in Africa and has been referred to as one of the most powerful preachers in Nigeria. He is the Chancellor of Covenant University and Landmark University. He was named in 2011 by Forbes magazine as being the richest pastor in Nigeria.

On September 27, 1954, David Olaniyi Oyedepo was born in Osogbo, Nigeria, but is a native of Omu-Aran, Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State. He was raised in a mixed religious family. His father, Ibrahim, was a Muslim healer. His mother, Dorcas, was a member of the Holy Order of the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church (C&S), a branch of the Aladura movement in Nigeria. He was raised by his grandmother in Osogbo, who introduced him to the virtues of Christian life via early morning prayers which she attended with him. She also taught him the importance of tithing.

Oyedepo was “born again” in 1969, through the influence of his teacher, Betty Lasher, who took an interest in him during his high school days. He studied architecture at the Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin and worked briefly with the Federal Ministry of Housing in Ilorin before resigning to concentrate on missionary work. Oyedepo received a PhD in Human Development from Honolulu University, Hawaii, US.