Presidency Set To Relocate Villa Chapel And Mosque Away From Aso Rock – See Why

Indications from sources close to the
Presidency have it that the President
is under pressure to relocate the Villa
Chapel because of its closeness to
Buhari’s bedroom and kitchen.
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.
Sunnykid 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.