LAGOS, Nigeria — Bayo Adelabu, the Minister of Power, has accused Primate Elijah Ayodele, founder of the INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, of demanding over 150 million naira for “spiritual intercession” to secure his election as governor of Oyo state.
The allegations are contained in a petition dated Monday, October 13, 2025, from Adelabu’s office to the director-general of the Department of State Services (DSS), seen by journalists.
The minister, a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and a two-time gubernatorial candidate, has declared his intention to contest the Oyo governorship again in 2027.
In the petition, signed by his special adviser Bolaji Tunji, Adelabu alleges that Ayodele persistently approached him with unsolicited offers of spiritual help, demanding “huge sums of money and expensive spiritual items, cumulatively amounting to over N150 million.”
The minister states he consistently refused, believing his “political ambition is driven by genuine service to the people and not by any spiritual manipulation or fetish practice.”
The cleric’s subsequent actions, the petition claims, turned retaliatory.
“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,” it reads.
Adelabu has asked the DSS to investigate Ayodele for extortion and blackmail, compel a retraction of his statements, and secure an apology.
Supporting the minister’s account are a series of text messages, provided by his aides, purportedly between him and the cleric.
In them, Ayodele lists required items including 24 APC flags and 1,000 saxophones or trumpets, citing costs between 50 and 130 million naira.
“Sir, I don’t do this, but because of the love I have for you,” one message states.
The cleric also gives spiritual instructions, telling Adelabu to “recite almu nasira 200 times,” a likely reference to a Quranic chapter, and insists the guidance is divine. “I have divine advice for you sir, which can help a lot sir,” another message notes.
After Adelabu reportedly declined the requests, Ayodele publicly prophesied the minister’s political failure.
In video clips from his church, the cleric declared the minister had made mistakes and his message was a “warning from God,” daring Adelabu to sue him.
When contacted, Ayodele offered a starkly different version of events. He told journalists that Adelabu was the initiator, sending emissaries out of desperation to become governor.
“I didn’t blackmail him. We didn’t have any transaction. Again, no money was exchanged between us,” Ayodele said.
He defended the sums discussed, stating, “I can sell my services for any amount. I can value it at N1 billion as much as I provide the value he wants. It’s nobody’s business.”
The incident has ignited a fierce debate, highlighting the often-opaque intersection of faith, finance, and political ambition in Nigeria.
Adelabu’s petition frames the cleric’s actions as a threat to public order and democratic integrity.
Ayodele, meanwhile, positions the dispute as a commercial and spiritual disagreement, questioning why a politician would seek out a prophet he does not believe.
