Primate Elijah Ayodele, leader and founder of the INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, has fired back at the Minister of Power, Bayo Adelabu, dismissing allegations that he attempted to extort N150 million from the minister and calling him a “small boy” who does not understand what he is saying.
The fiery response came during a church service at INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church in Oke Afa, Lagos, on Sunday, after Adelabu reportedly petitioned the Department of State Services (DSS) accusing Ayodele of blackmail and an attempt to demand large sums of money and expensive items for “spiritual intercession” to aid his Oyo State governorship ambition.
According to earlier reports, the minister who has twice contested for the Oyo governorship and is preparing to run again in 2027 accused Ayodele of demanding items including 1,000 saxophones and trumpets, with costs ranging between about N50 million for Nigerian-grade instruments and up to N130 million for imported grade-one pieces. These demands were reportedly tied to a supposed spiritual requirement to bolster his political bid.
In his sermon, Ayodele rejected the extortion allegation outright, saying the proclaimed N150 million figure was laughable. “Can N150 million buy my shoe?” he said, adding that even his footwear couldn’t be bought with that amount. He questioned the credibility of the accusation and dismissed Adelabu’s complaint as coming from someone “pained” and desperate because he believes he will again fail in his bid to become governor.
Ayodele insisted that if he had actually taken money, he would publicly admit it, but that he neither collected any cash nor solicited funds from the minister. He described Adelabu as a “boy” and repeatedly urged people not to give weight to what he called “mouth diarrhoea.”
The dispute stems from a petition Adelabu is said to have filed with the DSS, alleging that after he rebuffed the cleric’s purported requests for funds and costly items, Ayodele began making negative prophecies about him, which the minister says were intended to tarnish his reputation and political ambitions.
Ayodele, however, claims that it was Adelabu who initially approached him — allegedly driven by desperation to secure a political victory — and that the cleric’s spiritual guidance was mischaracterised. He maintained that no extortion took place and accused the minister of misunderstanding or misrepresenting their interactions.