Primate Elijah Ayodele of the INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church has denied claims by Minister of Power Bayo Adelabu that he attempted to extort N150 million from him for prayers.
Reports said Adelabu petitioned the DSS, alleging the cleric demanded the purchase of about 1,000 trumpets worth roughly N150 million.
He also claimed Ayodele later prophesied that he would not become governor of Oyo State because he refused to pay.
In a statement by his media aide, Osho Oluwatosin, Ayodele dismissed the allegation, saying he never asked the minister for money beyond giving guidance on the trumpets, which he described as a spiritual recommendation.
Ayodele said Adelabu was the one who asked for the cost. “I merely gave an estimate and advised him to send someone to check the market prices,” he said.
The cleric also accused Adelabu, his personal assistant and another intermediary of mounting pressure on him because of the minister’s desperation for the Oyo governorship.
According to him, “I didn’t ask Bayo Adelabu to bring money for prayers… His personal assistant, himself, and the person he sent to me put me under so much pressure because he was desperate for governorship.”
He added that Adelabu even offered to give “anything” to become governor.
“He was the one who sent someone to me to talk to me on his behalf… the only thing I told him is to get the trumpets for his own good,” he said.
Ayodele explained that he told Adelabu the governorship ticket would be difficult to secure and advised him to seek divine mercy by buying the instruments as an act of faith. “He said he can’t do it, that’s all,” he noted.
He insisted his prophecies were never tied to the minister’s refusal.
“I have been talking about how he won’t be made governor of Oyo State for years… I don’t make prophecies to make money… my subsequent prophecies… aren’t because he failed to buy the musical instrument, it can never be,” he said.
