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Tag: Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN)

  • PFN Opebi/Allen women’s day celebration to empower women

    PFN Opebi/Allen women’s day celebration to empower women

    The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) Opebi/Allen Women’s Day Celebration 2025 will focus on inspiring and empowering women  as visionaries and agents of change through spiritual impartation, community impact, and practical empowerment.

    The Celebration, which will hold on Thursday, August 7, is part of the annual programmes of the PFN Women’s Wing, observed by chapters across Lagos State.

    For Opebi/Allen Chapter, this year’s edition themed “The Visionary Woman” will feature an empowerment session in partnership with the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF).

    Chairman, Planning Committee for PFN Opebi/Allen Women’s Day Celebration 2025, Deaconess Funmi Omotoso, said the empowerment session will focus on access to funding, skills, and opportunities for women.

    “This year, we are partnering with organisations, including the LSETF to provide access to funding, skills, and opportunities for women. The slogan for this year is, VISIONARY WOMEN!! AGENTS OF CHANGE!!” Dcns Omotoso said.

    She explained that this year’s edition is specially packaged to be more engaging, impactful, and far-reaching in line with the Chapter’s vision to raise visionary women and agents of change.

    Read Also: 2025 Flood: 191 dead, 94 missing, 134,435 affected in 20 States – NEMA

    “The 2025 edition is unique because of the expanded vision for empowerment and community impact, including our outreach to the Down Syndrome Foundation Nigeria,” she added.

    According to her, the theme “The Visionary Woman” was prayerfully chosen to reflect the urgent need for women to see beyond the present, embrace God-given vision, and take strategic roles as agents of positive change in their families, churches, and society.

    “We believe every woman carries divine potential, and when vision meets action, transformation happens — in homes, communities, and nations,” Dcns Omotoso stated.

    Outlining other activities lined up for the programme, she said the program will begin with prayers, praise, and worship, followed by special ministrations, interactive sessions, and testimonies of God’s goodness.

    The welcome address will be delivered by the PFN Opebi/Allen Chapter Chairman, Apostle David Jelmark, after which goodwill messages from PFN leaders and invited dignitaries will be presented.

    PFN Women’s Coordinator for Lagos State, Apostle Josephine Femi-Asiwaju, will also deliver a keynote ministration, as well as fatherly blessings from PFN Chairman for Ikeja Province, Pastor Amos Obidare.

    Women’s Coordinator, Opebi/Allen Chapter. Rev. Dr. Mrs. Patience Olusayo, said the theme of the celebration was gotten in the place of prayer, and was highly inspirational and depth-driven.

    “We desired as women to have a gathering where we can express ourselves and also be a channel of blessing to humanity. We discovered that one thing that will put us on the right path is if we fully understand what God has called us to do.

    “Our various dreams, being pursued and actualized, will promote a total turn around in our lives and also the expansion of God’s kingdom,” Mrs. Olusayo, who is also Convener of Ephphatha Praying Women Ministry International, based in Ogba, Ikeja, explained.

    She said although, this is the Chapter’s maiden edition, structures are already being put in place to make it an annual event.

  • Churches in Nigeria losing focus, says Bishop Wale Oke

    Bishop Wale Oke, the National Deputy President, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), says churches in Nigeria are deviating from the cause of soul winning.

    Oke made the observation on Tuesday in Ibadan while hosting the leadership of Foursquare Gospel Church, Lagos.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Oke is also the Presiding Bishop of Sword of the Spirit Ministries, Ibadan.

    NAN also reports that the delegation of Foursquare church led by the outgoing General Overseer, Rev. Felix Meduoye, had visited Oke to introduce the new General Overseer-elect, Rev. Sam Aboyeji.

    According to the renowned cleric, the focus of most churches recently and those behind them is the pursuit of mundane issues that are not preparing people, especially Christians, for eternity.

    He expressed regrets that churches were fast losing focus by drifting from their primary charge of assignment, which he said, was to enlist people into the kingdom of God.

    “My concern is the church is drifting. We have left our primary assignment of soul-winning to the pursuits of other lesser things.

    Read Also: Wale Oke to Nigerians: we are stronger together

    ”Yes, money is good, but everything should not be made to centre around prosperity, ” he said.

    The cleric called on pastors to reorder their priorities by making God’s charge their main focus and genuinely win souls so as to change ”the sagging world.”

    Oke, who thanked the leadership of the Foursquare Church for counting him worthy to be visited, commended Meduoye for his sterling leadership qualities that made the church cisis-free.

    He urged Aboyeji, the incoming General Overseer of the church to be humble and emulate his predecessors.

    Earlier, Meduoye informed Oke that the process that produced Aboyeji was transparent, saying this aided the seamless and rancour-free transition in the church.

    “Our transition in the church is a four-stage process. There is no inconsistency; the process was very transparent and seamless. In fact, Nigerian government needs to learn from us how election should be conducted,” Meduoye said.

    Aboyeji in his brief remarks assured that he would not deviate from the right path laid by his predecessors in further taking the church to greater heights.

     

    NAN

     

  • Only righteousness will elevate Nigeria – Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari has urged the Church to continue to stand for righteousness and truth, and preach against all forms of corruption.

    Buhari, represented by Vice President Yemi Osibanjo, made the appeal on Thursday in Makurdi at the 15th Biennial Conference of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN).

    He said it was important for the Church to always stand on the side of righteousness and truth, as ”it is only righteousness that can elevate our country.”

    He lamented the recurring crises in Benue since 2011, and called on herders and farmers to sheath their swords and live in peace.

    Read Also: Buhari restates commitment to develop Nigeria

    ”It happens without exceptions. In fact without exceptions. But with your prayers there is peace and your meeting here is in peace. With your prayers it has been put under control.

    ”If it were before now your families would have discouraged you from visiting Benue because of the clashes. God will make Benue a point of contact to all nations,” the president said.

    On the forthcoming general election, Buhari said its outcome was in the hands of God and urged all Nigerians to play their part within the confines of the law.

    Earlier, National President, PFN, Rev. Felix Omobude, assured that the Church would continue to pray for the president and his administration.

    Omobude pledged that the Church would not leave the country’s leaders out of its prayers.

    NAN

     

  • CAN, PFN back Christians in politics

    Christians, including pastors, have been encouraged to seek political leadership through elections.
    Leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), as well as the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), in Delta state, made the assertion in a congratulatory message to Reverend Francis Waive, who emerged House of Representative candidate on the platform of the All Progressives’ Congress in Delta state.
    Rev. Waive is contesting for the Ughelli North, Ughelli South and Udu federal constituency seat, in the National Assembly.
    The clergymen, while describing such a move as one that will bring good to the nation, noted that when the ‘righteous rule, the people rejoice’.
    According to the CAN chairman, Delta state chapter, Apostle Sylvanus Okorote, the church will continue to support Christians, especially pastors, to take active interest in politics.
    Okorote, while noting that pastors have equal rights as other humans to vote and be voted for, stressed that there is nothing wrong with pastors going into politics.
    “Pastors are human beings, we are encouraging men of God (Christians) to go into politics, its more better to have a pastor rule you than a traditional worshiper,” the CAN chairman stated.

    Read Also: Catholic board to candidates: shun unholy alliance with groups

    On his part, state president of the PFN, Bishop Kingsley Enakirerhi, described the APC candidate’s victory as a victory of the Church.
    Enakirerhi, while optimistic that he (Waive) will win the final elections come 2019, hoped that through him good governance will be established in the Green Chamber.
    “We rejoice with him for the victory, and we pray just as we have always, that he will not just win the primary but also the seat of the house of representative and help us to bring good governance to the house of Rep.
    “We wish him higher positions, from being a member of house of representative to being a  senator and then, the President of Nigeria because the likes of Waive will do great things for us.
    “He is a tested and trusted leader in the body of Christ right from his pastoral life, his school days as a president of student union.
    “He has been a frontier leader, focused, firing and faired better at whatever he does, we rejoice with him. The victory of Waive is the victory of the entire church of God,” the PFN president said.

  • 2019 Polls: PFN preaches peace, ask Nigerians to vote rightly

    The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Ogun State chapter, on Friday prayed for peaceful general elections in 2019, with calls on Nigerians to embrace peace and vote according to their conscience.

    The PFN also urged Nigerians to desist from politicizing everything happening in the country, shun vote selling and buying as well as refrain from playing politics with the lives of others.

    The State chairman of PFN, Apostle David Otaru, who made this known in Sagamu, Ogun State, while addressing reporters on the first 100 days of the new  executives of the Christian body,  also advised that whoever commits a crime should be treated as criminal without politicizing it along ethnic, religious and party lines.

    Otaru who disclosed that the new executives of PFN which he leads in the state would focus on evangelism, winning of souls and charity to the needy in the next four years, also warned that Nigerians risk having unsafe country if they continue to politicize suspects of “crimes or play politics with people’s lives.”

    He said: “We pray for peaceful elections in Nigeria, we don’t have other nation than Nigeria. Let’s go to the poll and vote according to our conscience. Let there be peace in Nigeria and every part of it.

    Read Also: Lions Club urges Nigerians to form habit of blood donation

    “Nigeria is greater than one individual and his dream. Nigeria is a collective project and not one man’s project. In an election, there will be winners and losers, that is how it is and we saw that in the just concluded midterm election in the US where the Democrats won more seats at the House of Representatives than the Republicans.

    “There should be religious tolerance in Nigeria. I came from a muslim background. In my family, my eldest sister is a Muslim and she is in my house. One of my brothers recently called to say he is now a Christian.

    “Everybody should be free to practice what he deemed fit as his faith. 98% of my family members are Muslims and we still live peacefully and happily together and the constitution allows it.

    “We should allow peace to reign, this is very important as we approach another election year. We should not play politics with everything. One of our problems in this country is that we play politics with everything. I won’t play politics with people’s lives.

    “Whoever commits crime should be treated as criminal. If you play politics with that, it means we are not ready for a safe Nigeria.”

  • Kumuyi, Sani-Bello preach peace at Deeper Life Crusade

    The General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Christian Ministry, Pastor William Kumuyi has called on Nigerians to make peace with God and themselves in order to experience  supernatural connection with the God of wonders.
    The Niger state Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello has also stressed the need for both Christians and Muslims to love one another and live peacefully together  because both religions are worshipping one God.
    The duo spoke at the evangelistic campaign of Pastor Kumuyi with the theme, ‘A Night of Supernatural Connection with the God of Wonders’ in Suleja.
    Speaking on the topic ‘The Hour of Supernatural Connection’, Kumuyi who took his text from Matthew 8:5, 10,13 called on the congregation to live a life of faith saying that ‘God is our helper in every situations.”
    Niger state Governor who was  represented by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Alhaji Danjuma Salau urged Christian faithfuls to live in peace and to shun religious intolerance.
    He cautioned all and sundry  to eschew violence and action that might be capable of instigating crisis, especially as the country heads toward the 2019 general elections.

    Read Also: ‘Deeper Life retreat promises new dawn’

    He extolled Kumuyi’s virtues, describing the Cleric as a man of God indeed with uncommon commitment.
    The crusade which was a crowd puller attracted personalities from all walks of life and it had in attendance the Commissioner for Ministry of Land, Alhaji Isah Kanko, the representative of the Suleja Emirate Council, Bitrus Kaura, Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Niger State Chapter,  Rev. Mathias Echioda and his counterpart from the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) among others.
    The Red Cross Open Field, venue of the crusade was jam-packed with worshipers from every nooks and crannies of the city and the crusade recorded a total number of 59, 987 participants.

  • 2019: Use your PVC to vote out bad leaders – PFN tells Nigerians

    The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) on Wednesday called on eligible voters in Nigeria to arm themselves with their Permanent Voters Card (PVC) and get ready to vote out bad leaders.

    The Vice President, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (South-South), Bishop Simeon Okah made this call in Warri when he played host to the South South leaders of the PFN.

    Okah said the era of complaining and doing nothing has past, stressing that the time for people to stop complaining and take action by going to the polling units to vote during election has come.

    He said it was not enough for people to sit down in their homes complaining about bad leadership when they can actually change the leaders through the power of their PVC’s.

    Okah, who is also the Bishop of Flock of Christ Mission Incorporated called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to sit up and ensure that they build the trust of the people by conducting credible elections in the country.

    “We want INEC to do what we are paying them for. It is not a good thing that after involving professors in the conduct of election, the professors will begin to manipulate elections. This only means that Nigeria is gone. We do hope that this time around INEC would sit up and do the right thing because if they fail to sit up, they will end up setting this country on fire,” the South South PFN Vice President said.

    Read Also: Use your PVCs wisely, Fape tasks Nigerians

    On the involvement of security agents in the conduct of elections in the nation, Bishop Okah cautioned against the use of military men, saying that the function of military was to keep the nation free from external aggression.

    “The military should not be involved in the 2019 general elections. Their duty is to maintain peace and unity of the country. They should not be used in the conduct of elections. That is the duty of the police. Only policemen are allowed to monitor elections,” Bishop Okah added.

    Okah said that those people praying for the downfall of the country will not succeed, noting that God will not make their plans to succeed.

    He advised Christians in the nation to come together and use their numerical strength to get involved in the politics of the nation, saying, “Christians should organize themselves and try to know the number of eligible voters that they have so that they can use this to vote out any leader who is not performing.”

    Okah also called on Christians not to vote for any politician who has used the platform of the PFN to climb to leadership position but has forgotten to do the will of the people.

    He also warned politicians who are involved in snatching ballot boxes to desist from it saying that they are setting a bag precedent for the younger generation.

  • SMEDAN to train 52 inmates on entrepreneurial skills

    The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria ( SMEDAN ) is set to equip 52 inmates with entrepreneurial skills toward improving their lives and the nation’s socio-economic state.

    Mr Yinka Fisher, Lagos State Coordinator of SMEDAN, made the disclosure in an interview with our correspondent on Tuesday in Lagos.

    Fisher said that the empowerment programme for the inmates would assist them to reintegrate successfully into society after prison, become self-reliant and live a productive life.

    He said the programme would be done in collaboration with the Nigerian Prison Service, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria ( PFN ) and Covenant University.

    According to him, the training will hold from May to December at the Kirikiri and Ikoyi Prisons for both male and female inmates.

    “The essence of the programme is to equip the inmates with relevant skills so that they would not be vagabonds in the system again but establish their own businesses and engage in useful socio-economic ventures, thereby contributing their own quota to our national development.

    “The programme has been on since 2009. Overtime, we have been able to train 576 inmates of which 230 have been released and 146 among the released inmates have been able to start their own businesses.

    “They are now employers of labour and helping to solve the problem of unemployment in the country,’’ he said.

    Fisher said that SMEDAN would train inmates in tailoring, shoemaking, tie and dye and other vocations, teach them how to turn the vocations to enterprise and instil in them financial literacy.

    “We are going to teach them in eight different modules; how to run efficient and profitable business, writing of business plans, how to network, access to finance, meeting with regulatory authority, investment opportunities and avoiding pitfalls in business.

    “There is business venture in the prison where they can practise what they have been taught and after their release, they can implement them properly,’’ Fisher said.

    According to him, while SMEDAN focuses on the vocational skills acquisition; Covenant University will handle the psychology aspect through therapy and counselling, while Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria will focus on spiritual uplifting.

    “Through the exposure at the training, prison inmates would be returning to the society not as social misfits but reformed and well equipped personalities with skills that would enable them settle down to a productive lifestyle,’’ he said.

    NAN

  • PFN urges Buhari to withdraw military from South-East

    PFN urges Buhari to withdraw military from South-East

    The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) has urged President Mohammadu Buhari to desist from using the military to quell civil crisis especially as it regards the situation in the South-East.

     

    It described the use of soldiers to tackle internal security matters as a return of dark days in Nigeria’s democratic process.

     

    President of PFN, Reverend Felix Omobude, who stated this in a press statement issued in Benin City and signed by his media aide, Mr. Ralph Okhiria noted that it was wrong for President Buhari to send soldiers into the streets in some Nigerian cities.

     

    Reverend Omobude stated that it was imperative for the federal government to equip the Nigeria Police to tackle internal security issues in the country.

     

    Omobude also cautioned agitators in the country especially the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to conduct their agitation within the ambit of Nigeria laws as well as respect the rights of others in their agitation.

     

    He called for greater unity of purpose among Nigerians across the different ethnic and religious lines.

     

     “We appeal for calm and understanding on the part of everyone and for continued prayers for greater peace and prosperity in Nigeria”, the statement reads.

  • Buhari did not address Nigerians in his Sallah message – PFN

    Buhari did not address Nigerians in his Sallah message – PFN

    The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Wednesday faulted President Muhammadu Buhari’s Sallah message in Hausa language, just as it described the quit notice to Igbos in the North as “reckless and as of no consequence.”

    The group, which insisted that the President did not address Nigerians but his kinsmen, said such action was capable of further polarizing the country along ethnic nationalities.

    Enugu State Chapter of the PFN made these assertions at the end of a three-day prayer for God’s intervention over the tension in the country.

    Chairman of the PFN in the State and Bishop Elect of the Grace of God Mission, Rev. Dr. Godwin Madu while leading in a prayer session condemned the quit notice, urging Nigerians not to panic as God is already in control.

    “Nigeria is one indivisible entity; the quit notice is the finger of the enemy trying to make Nigeria like Somalia, Eritrea and other crisis-ridden countries of the world.

    “So, we are urging for calm because the notice is a joke. Our prayer is that God will touch the hearts of the people causing problems in this country”, Madu stated

    Other clerics, including the Bishop of the Rock Family Church, Dr. Obi Onubogu, the PFN secretary, Rev. Dr. Noble Idika and the secretary, PFN social security outreach, Apostle Dr. Joseph Ajujungwa, called on Nigerians to eschew hate speech and actions capable of further threatening the already fragile peace in the country.

    Ajujungwa and Idika accused Buhari of sectionalizing the country; an action they said was capable of worsening the already tensed situation.

    “A lot is happening in this country every day and those at the helm of affairs don’t seem to be helping matters. The other day the President was reported to have addressed Nigerians in Hausa language.

    “To us, we maintain that it is the most unfortunate thing that should happen at this point in time. Nigeria has more than 250 languages, so, how can the President address a section? We are asking him whether he is still President of the entire country.

    “As far as we are concerned, he did not address Nigerians but his kinsmen, the Hausas; it is an unfortunate thing and an insult to other Nigerians who do not understand Hausa language”, Ajujungwa quipped.

    On his part, Bishop Onubogu called for continuous dialogue in the country, even as he said the Biafra agitators should stop using insulting words on people from other zones of the country.

    “The answer is let us stop castigating each other; things must change; I have always said the three solutions to Nigeria problems are – dialogue, dialogue and dialogue. You can’t be calling people names and you say you are negotiating.

    “We should also handle this Biafra agitation carefully; the notion that they are drug addicts is wrong. Among them we have intellectuals, successful business men and industrialists.

    “But they should not go on abusing other regions; if God wants us to separate as a country, let us go peacefully.”