2027: Minister, Primate Ayodele face-off over N150m ‘spiritual intercession’

by · The Eagle Online

The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, and the Leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Babatunde Ayodele, are engaged in a face-off over a N150 million spiritual intercession for the 2027 Oyo State governorship election.

While Adelabu accused Ayodele of blackmailing him, the man of God said the minister was desperate to become governor.

According to a report by a reputable online newspaper, The Cable, the Minister, through his aide, Bolaji Tunji, had petitioned the Department of State Services (DSS) to investigate Ayodele over the issue.

He said the man of God has been using the pulpit to pass messages he considered as blackmail on his ambition.

In the petition dated October 13, 2025, Adelabu accused Ayodele of making false prophecies intended to malign his reputation after he rebuffed efforts from the cleric for N150 million.

In a series of text messages between Ayodele and Adelabu, seen by TheCable, the cleric asked the minister to bring 24 APC flags for prayers.

The cleric also demanded 1,000 pieces of saxophones/trumpets, with the least expensive Nigerian fairly-used grade costing a total of N50 million and the imported grade-one from China at N130 million in total.

Ayodele asked Adelabu to bring the items by April 1.

He later extended the grace till April 4.

“Sir, I don’t do this, but because of the love I have for you,” the primate wrote.

The cleric told the minister that he had sent him several letters while he was the deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and other times to the minister in Ibadan, but there was no reply.

He repeatedly made requests to call the minister, who told him he was on pilgrimage.

In response, Adelabu told Ayodele he could not afford the expensive items.

After the incident, Ayodele, while speaking in his church, said Adelabu had failed and would not become the Oyo State governor.

Adelabu said in the petition signed by Tunji: “I write to formally draw the attention of the Department of State Services (DSS) to the extortive, deceitful, and inciting activities of one self-acclaimed pastor known as Primate Elijah Ayodele, of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, whose actions have become not only personally distressing to the Honourable Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, but also capable of disturbing public peace and undermining the integrity of the political process in Oyo State.

“Since his tenure as the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and particularly in the period leading up to his current aspiration to serve as the Governor of Oyo State, this individual had persistently approached him with unsolicited offers of ‘spiritual intercession’ purportedly to guarantee electoral success.

“Under this guise, he had on several occasions demanded huge sums of money and expensive spiritual items, cumulatively amounting to over N150 million (one hundred and fifty million naira), as purported prerequisites for divine favour. The minister had consistently declined his requests, believing that his political ambition is driven by genuine service to the people and not by any spiritual manipulation or fetish practice.

“Following the Honourable Minister’s refusal to accede to his extortionate demands, Primate Ayodele has embarked on a campaign of malicious and false prophecies targeted at discrediting him publicly. He has gone as far as declaring through various media channels that ‘God told him he will not win the election’ and has recently made more provocative and inciting statements suggesting that he would fail because of his association with the ‘Èmi Lòkan’ slogan (It’s my turn).

“As a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he had previously chosen to ignore his antics to avoid unnecessary public confrontation with a religious figure. However, Primate Ayodele’s continued propagation of these false prophecies, which are evidently retaliatory and malicious in nature, now pose a threat not only to the minister’s reputation but also to public order and confidence in the democratic process.

“I therefore urge the Department of State Services to kindly investigate the activities of the said Pastor Ayodele for extortion, blackmail, and deliberate dissemination of false and inciting information; compel him to retract his false prophecies and issue a formal written apology; and bring him under the force of the law, in accordance with relevant provisions of the Nigerian Constitution and Criminal Code, to deter similar fraudulent religious practices in the future.”

Replying on Saturday in a statement issued to newsmen by his media aide, Ayodele said: “He sent emissaries to me because he was desperate to become Oyo governor.

“I didn’t blackmail him.

“We didn’t have any transaction.

“And no money was exchanged between us.”

Ayodele said he discussed some terms with Adelabu regarding the process for the spiritual assistance sought, but he didn’t agree with the terms “and it ended there”.

He added: “I made no attempt to extort him.

“If he didn’t believe in what I do, why did he come to someone he claims is dishing out fake prophesies?”

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