‘N150m Can’t Buy My Shoe’ — Ayodele Dismisses Adelabu’s Extortion Claim, Calls Him ‘Small Boy’

Primate Elijah Ayodele, founder and head of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, has rejected claims by Bayo Adelabu, minister of power, that he attempted to extort N150 million in exchange for spiritual support for the Oyo governorship. Speaking during a church service in Oke Afa, Lagos, on Sunday, Ayodele dismissed the allegation, describing Adelabu as “a small boy” who “doesn’t understand what he is saying.”

The controversy stems from a petition Adelabu submitted to the Department of State Services, in which he accused Ayodele of demanding 1,000 saxophones and trumpets, valued between N50 million for Nigerian-grade instruments and N130 million for imported Chinese-grade items. Adelabu alleged that Ayodele threatened to make false prophecies against him when he refused to meet the demands. The minister has previously contested the Oyo governorship twice and announced his intention to run again in 2027.

Ayodele denied the allegations, saying Adelabu approached him “in desperation” and that he neither solicited money nor made threats. During the service, the cleric said, “I am not doing prophecies to impress you or invite you to me. Take it, or you leave it. If I collected money, I would openly say I collected money. But I did not collect money, and I did not invite him.”

He further emphasized the insignificance of the alleged sum, asking rhetorically, “Can N150 million buy my car? The shoe I wear, can N150 million buy it?” He described the minister’s complaint as politically motivated, adding, “The boy doesn’t understand what he is saying. He is a boy. Don’t give power to those who have mouth diarrhoea. He knows he has lost, that’s why he is pained.”