under pressure to relocate the Villa Chapel because the
location of the Villa Chapel, which was built and inaugurated
by President Olusegun Obasanjo, is said to be too close to
Buhari’s bedroom and kitchen.
Sources close to the presidency said that the late President
Umaru Yar’Adua, who inherited the Villa chapel from
Obasanjo, had assured his predecessor that he would not
relocate the location despite its proximity to his residence.
It was revealed that some overzealous aides of President
Buhari were uncomfortable with the location of the church
and had already made efforts to stop the use of the facility
by Christian worshippers on August 30, 2015, thereby
causing a national uproar in the process.
A source in the Presidency said that security agents
prevented the Villa Chapel choristers from entering the
building for their weekly rehearsal on Saturday, August 29,
2015.
According to the source, the plot was to erect canopies and
have the church service there but the plan soon leaked and
the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, had to intervene by
reaching out to President Buhari before the security men
gave way for service to be conducted that day.
The Presidency source said: “Osinbajo was uncomfortable
with the plan and he had to reach out to the President before
service could be held that day in the chapel.”
It was learnt last night as prelude to relocating the Chapel,
the Children’s church, which forms part of the Villa Chapel,
has been shut and some rooms, converted to shops for
storing food items which forced the children to relocate to
the office of the Chaplain, Seyi Malomo, for their normal
service.
A source at the Presidency said on Tuesday, “As we speak,
the children’s church remains shut and everything relating to
the church has been removed. We had to beg them to allow
us to remove our property. The children’s church has been
turned into a store,” the official said.
“As a result of the unforeseen development, we had to
collapse some facilities to accommodate the children and
keep our worship going.”
That was why the Chaplain said that the church had not been
shut but ‘we only had some procedural issues that needed
to be sorted out’.
However the Special Adviser to the President on Media and
Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina has denied the closure of the
church by the Presidency.
Last week, when the issue came up, Adesina, posted
pictures of the church service on his Facebook page.
The acting Chaplain of the Aso Villa Chapel, Pastor Joseph
Sheyi Malomo also said that the church was not shut but did
not make mention of the fact that his office was being used
in the place of the shut children’s church.
Vanguard learnt that the Presidency is considering relocating
both the Mosque and the Church from their present
locations to a more spacious area in the Villa so as to
prevent any accusation.
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