Bishop Daniel Obinim, the head pastor of the International God’s Way Church (IGWC), has openly acknowledged that his earlier assertions that he possessed supernatural abilities—such as the ability to change into animals like lions and snakes to hurt his enemies—were false.
In February 2016, Bishop Obinim declared that he was endowed with multiple supernatural powers, including the ability to change into a snake and bite humans, which were deemed his enemies or enemies of his church members.
Bishop Obinim said that his transformation abilities extended beyond simply turning into any animal he thought of, including snakes. He explained that his transition into an animal was a spiritual process that had a bodily manifestation.
“When I enter the spiritual realm, I am hanging in the air with Jesus beside me. Ghana looks very small like a handkerchief. I can turn into a snake and bite you. Someone came for a consultation, and I told her I would visit her with my father Jesus.
“When we were going, I turned into a dog and Jesus transformed into a lion. The person was beating me with a stick and the dog told him it was Obinim and she stopped. Right after that, I turned into a human and Jesus also transformed into his human nature,” Bishop Obinim said on his OB TV’s ‘DAYE’ programme in 2016.
Almost a decade down the line, the controversial televangelist has backtracked on these claims, urging his congregations to forgive him for those false claims.
Bishop Obinim apologised for spreading false information in a video clip that has since gone viral, describing the period of “mishaps and inexperience in his ministry.” He asked his congregations for forgiveness and urged the audience to associate themselves with good people.
“I said I could transform into any animal and do what I wanted to people. Those were mistakes. I have the calling of the Lord, and through my prayers, I can help you, but I don’t have the power to transform into an animal and all other things that I spoke about,” the stylish preacher and self-acclaimed angel of God stated.
“I was saying a lot of things that were beyond me. People are asking me to turn into a snake or a tiger. How can I do that? Am I a vampire or an animal? How can someone who has a human body with a wife and children do this? I was saying all sorts of things, don’t make fun of this, I am serious,” he said while speaking in a TikTok live session addressing issues concerning his ministry.
“I have the calling of the Lord, and through my prayers, I can help you, but I don’t have the power to transform into an animal and all other things that I spoke about,” said Bishop Obinim.
Audiences are skeptical of Obinim’s current position
Though he presents himself as a repentant, other critics see this confession as just another calculated ploy to boost his public profile and draw more people to his one-man church in his quest to increase the dwindling numbers at his church after the onslaught of Kennedy Agyapong.
The popular preacher has also claimed to be the “spiritual president of the world.” He now retracts the assertion that he once boasted about his extraordinary spiritual powers, which included the ability to change into multiple forms.
The Bishop acknowledged that he was neither as wealthy nor as educated as some others were, but he insisted on his superior spiritual ability. Although he had told stories of visiting Heaven and being greeted by angels, he now admits these stories were made up.
Many people now doubt the genuineness of his confession and the reasons behind it in light of this abrupt U-turn.
Christian Council opposed the doctrines of Obinim
Following Bishop Obinim’s wild claims in 2016, there were calls for the country’s Christian umbrella group, the Christian Council of Ghana, to rope the leader of IGWC in to face some sanctions.
Former Chairperson of the Council and moderator of Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana (E.P. Church), the late Reverend Senyo Agidi, disclosed in 2018 that “the Ghana Christian Council does not support what the self-acclaimed angel of the Lord has been doing.”
“Bishop Daniel Obinim is one pastor who seems to have a confused theology. We (Christian Council) do not agree with most of his ways of doing things. If Obinim were my pastor, his church would have been closed down by now,” he said.