Emmanuel Omale, is a Nigerian

charismatic Charisma () is a personal quality of presence or charm that compels its subjects. Scholars in sociology, political science, psychology, and management reserve the term for a type of leadership seen as extraordinary; in these fields, the term "ch ...

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

and

televangelist Televangelism (wikt:tele-, tele- "distance" and "evangelism," meaning "Christian ministry, ministry," sometimes called teleministry) is the use of media, specifically radio and television, to communicate Christianity. Televangelists are minister ...

. He is the leader and founder of Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry, a Christian church that runs the Divine Hand Television station from

Abuja Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...

Early life and education

Omale was born in Anyigba,

Kogi State Kogi State is a state in the North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the west by the states of Ekiti and Kwara, to the north by the Federal Capital Territory, to the northeast by Nasarawa State, to the northwest by Niger State, to the s ...

, Nigeria. He graduated from

University of Abuja The University of Abuja is a tertiary institution in the Nigerian capital, Abuja. It was established in January 1988 (under Decree No. 110 of 1992 as amended) as a dual-mode university with the mandate to run conventional and distance learning ...

with a degree in sociology. In 2007, he was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in divinity from a foreign university.

Ministry

Omale is the leader and founder of Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry. He started his church in Anyigba, Kogi State and spread to

Kogi State University Prince Abubakar Audu University,(Formerly Kogi State University) located at Anyigba, is the state-owned university of Kogi, Nigeria. It was established in 1999 by Prince Abubakar Audu, the former governor of the state. At the time of its esta ...

, before moving permanently to Abuja. The church has branches in the UK and South Africa. Omale has through his church assisted the less privileged, including women, children and homeless people.

Controversy

On 12 July 2020, during the arrest and questioning of former acting chairman of

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is a Nigerian law enforcement agency that investigates financial crimes such as advance fee fraud (419 fraud) and money laundering. The EFCC was established in 2003, partially in response to pre ...

Ibrahim Magu Ibrahim Magu (born 5 May 1962), is a Nigerian police officer who served as acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC from 9 November 2015, until his suspension on 7 July 2020. He was replaced by Muhammed Umar as the a ...

by presidential probe panel in Nigeria, Omale's name was mentioned through an investigative report on EFCC's activities by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU. According to the report, it was alleged that Omale through his bank,

First City Monument Bank First City Monument Bank (FCMB), a member of FCMB Group Plc, is a financial services holding company headquartered in Lagos. FCMB Group Plc has nine subsidiaries divided among three business groups: commercial and retail banking, investment bank ...

bought a landed property in 2016 worth 573 million naira in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

on Magu's behalf. Omale denied the allegations through his lawyer and went ahead to sue the

News Agency of Nigeria The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) is a news reporting agency owned and run by the Federal Government of Nigeria just like Nigerian Television Authority The Nigerian Television Authority or NTA is a Nigerian government-owned and partly commerc ...

for the story in a 1 billion naira lawsuit. Between 10 August to 12 August 2020, the presidential probe panel invited Omale, his wife, Deborah Omale and the managing director and chief executive officer of First City Monument Bank, Adam Nuru to testify before it. During the testimony, Nuru said that Omale never had such cash but a system error on 16 January 2016 credited him and 27 others with 573 million naira each, noting the bank only discovered the error upon invitation to appear before the panel. On 5 September 2020, Omale sued First City Monument Bank in a 5 billion naira lawsuit, citing that the bank falsely reported to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit that 573 million naira was paid into his church account. On 27 September 2020, the bank publicly apologized to Omale, noting they regretted the error that led to the transfer of the money to his account.

Personal life

Omale is an Igala man from Kogi State. He married Deborah Omale in 2013 and they have two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Omale, Emmanuel Living people Nigerian Pentecostal pastors People from Kogi State University of Abuja alumni Nigerian television evangelists Nigerian Christian clergy Prophets Year of birth missing (living people)