Primate Elijah Ayodele, founder and head of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Oke Afa, Lagos, says he did not attempt to extort Bayo Adelabu, minister of power.
TheCable had exclusively reported how Adelabu petitioned the Department of State Services (DSS), accusing Ayodele of blackmail and attempting to extort N150 million from him for “spiritual intercession” to make him governor of Oyo state.
Adelabu, who had twice contested the Oyo governorship election, has declared his intention to contest again in 2027.
The power minister accused Ayodele of making false prophecies intended to malign his reputation after he rebuffed all efforts from the cleric, who allegedly demanded a huge sum of money and expensive spiritual items.
Adelabu added that Ayodele asked him to bring 24 APC flags for prayers. The minister said the cleric also demanded 1,000 pieces of saxophones/trumpets, with the least expensive, fairly used Nigerian-grade costing a total of N50 million, and the imported grade-one from China costing N130 million.
The minister said his refusal to yield to Ayodele’s demands made the cleric prophesy that he would never become Oyo governor.
PRIMATE AYODELE: ADELABU LOOKED FOR ME IN HIS DESPERATION TO BECOME GOVERNOR
In a statement signed by Osho Oluwatosin, his media aide, Ayodele denied ever attempting to extort Adelabu of N150 million, explaining that he never asked the minister to send money to him apart from getting the trumpets.
Ayodele said Adelabu asked for the cost, and he gave him a figure while asking the minister to send someone to the market in order to confirm the prices of the instrument.
The cleric said he told Adelabu that it might be difficult for him to get the governorship ticket, but he can seek the mercy of God by buying the musical instrument, not necessarily for his church, which he refused.
“I didn’t ask Bayo Adelabu to bring money for prayers. I told him to ask someone from his end to go to the market and find out how much the said trumpet cost, while someone follows them from my end too. His personal assistant, himself, and the person he sent to me put me under so much pressure because he was desperate for governorship,” Ayodele said.
“He was the one who sent someone to me to talk to me on his behalf. He went as far as saying he was willing to give anything to become the next governor of Oyo State, and the only thing I told him was to get the trumpets for his own good.
“I told him that they won’t want to give him the governorship ticket, but if he wants it so bad, he should seek the mercy of God by buying the musical instruments for God, not even for my church, but he said he can’t do it. That’s all.”
Ayodele said for years, he has been talking about Adelabu’s ambition and has maintained that it would take the grace of God for him to become the governor of Oyo state; hence, it couldn’t have been because the minister refused to yield to his request.
“I have been talking about how he won’t be made governor of Oyo State for years; this is why he called me to seek solutions. I have never spoken to him before till he sent people to me and personally requested my spiritual help,” he said.
”I don’t make prophecies to make money. I am blessed already, and my subsequent prophecies after our discussion about his ambition aren’t because he failed to buy the musical instrument. It can never be.”
