Olatosho Oshoffa, one of 53 children of the late founder of the Celestial Church of Christ Worldwide, Samuel Oshoffa, has said that there is no law that forbids polygamy in the church.
Olatosho, shepherd of CCC International Headquarters in the Ketu area of Lagos, stated this to PUNCH in an interview published on Sunday.
Oshoffa, who died in 1985, had 13 wives.
Backing his father’s decision to take multiple wives, Olatosho said no prophet in the Bible had only one wife.
He said that despite his late father already having three wives, God still gave him the vision to start his ministry 76 years ago.
“I am sure in 1947 if there was a better candidate to found CCC, Oshoffa wouldn’t have been chosen,” he said.
“But because there wasn’t a better candidate, he was the only one that God found worthy to found CCC, despite having three wives. So those condemning my father should know that he never had any concubine.
“He married them (his wives), and they were all under his roof. But today, the so-called men of God with only one wife will have concubines outside.
“Which one is better? So, I will tell you that if God were to judge by the number of wives before sending a bishop or pastor on a mission, my father would have been disqualified because he had three wives before God called him.”
“Based on this, anyone who desires to marry only one wife is allowed to do so. The church allows it. In the same way, the church does not have a law that binds a clergy to have only one wife,” he added.
Olatosho said his father kept his large family together by raising them himself.
On the leadership crisis rocking the celestial church, the cleric said his eldest brother Rev. Emmanuel Oshoffa is the leader of the church.
