Contractor to drag Deeper Life Ministries to court over unpaid fees

GQ Acoustics Limited is a leading professional audio company in Africa involved in System Design & Engineering, Sale, Installation, Concert Production, Training and Touring. GQ Acoustics may be forced to drag Deeper Life Bible Church Ministry to court to recover outstanding payments in respect of audio installation works at the Deeper Life Bible Church Headquarters Building (Phase2) Super Structure development situated in Gbagada, Lagos.

GQ Acoustics Limited has been involved in the design and engineering of some of the foremost establishments in Nigeria such as The Faith Tabernacle (aka Winners Chapel) and Sheperdhill Baptist Church Obanikoro and boasts of live sound profile such as The Experience Concert and Star Mega Jams etc.  We believe these enviable track records inspired Deeper Life Ministries to contract GQ Acoustics Limited to carry out audio installation works at the Deeper Life Bible Church Headquarters Building sometime in 2016.

The contract which included setting up of an audio control room, an engineering crew setup and logistics for Digico, setup of additional 57 Meyer sound UP-Junior loudspeakers, setup of all audio backline equipment from the world of stereo and engineering set up of 24 language interpretation boots was awarded for a total contract sum of N48, 501, 096. (Forty-eight million, five hundred and one thousand and ninety-six naira only)

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We learnt the parties agreed with payments to be staggered as follows;

• Full payment for the audio control equipment,
• 50% for mobilisation on all other services on production of insurance bond,
• 45% on completion and
• 5% as retention.

Upon satisfaction of the requirement for an insurance bond which was procured from Goldlink Insurance PLC, GQ Acoustics Limited was said to have received the initial payment of N35, 021,096.00 being full payment for the audio control equipment and 50% mobilisation payment on each of the installation services to be rendered by the Company.

After the successful completion of the audio installation project by GQ Acoustics Limited, the Church (Deeper Life Ministries) commissioned the project at the opening of its Auditorium at its Headquarters in Gbagada on the 24th of April 2018.

However, several calls and entreaties made by the Company to the Church after the successful completion and commissioning of the project for payment of the sum of N21,292,500.00 being the total balance minus the 5% Retention due on each service, have been to no avail.

Meanwhile, the Church had issued a letter to Goldlink Insurance PLC discharging the Company of any obligations regarding the contract and releasing the Company of any liability from the bond.

Our correspondent also learnt that during the course of the audio installation project, due to damage of one of the supplied equipment, which occurred while in the storage facility of the Deeper Life Ministries, the Church had approached GQ Acoustics Limited and sought the Company’s services for the replacement of the said equipment.

Consequently Deeper Life ministries rented from GQ Acoustics a DIGICO SD10 for temporary use for 4 months alongside Meyer Sound Loudspeaker Systems which were used during the commissioning of the church auditorium at the total cost of N27, 950,000.00. Despite repeated demands by the Company for payment for the rentals, the Church has also refused to pay till date.

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The Company is therefore demanding through its lawyers, a total sum of N51, 297,000.00 as total outstanding balance unpaid for services rendered as well as for the rental of equipment for a four-month period or be compelled to face litigation for the recovery of same.

The refusal of the Deeper Life Ministries to settle its outstanding indebtedness to GQ Acoustics Limited has crippled the operations of the Company and threatened the livelihood of its several employees whose families depend on the Company for survival especially during the Covid – 19 pandemic which has negatively impacted all sectors of the economy globally.

The Deeper Life Church edifice was commissioned and opened with pomp and pageantry by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo SAN in April 2018 and observers can only wonder why a prominent Church such as Deeper Life will refuse to honour its financial obligations to a Company several years after successful completion of the contract and after it had discharged the Company of any liabilities regarding the satisfactory performance of the contract under the Insurance bond procured from Goldlink Insurance PLC.

All efforts to get the reaction of officials of Deeper Life Church on the issue have been abortive. However, an anonymous source told us that this is an unusual development and it may well be that the General Overseer of the church the most respected Pastor Williams Kumuyi is unaware of the outstanding payment and predicament of the company and its dependents. This development surely negates all that the Leadership of Deeper Life Ministries teaches, preaches and stands for.