Primate Elijah Ayodele, founder and head of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Oke Afa, Lagos, may find himself in troubled waters if steps are not taken to avert the threat of a N10 billion lawsuit.
The threat is coming from Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the vice-presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) who has threatened to drag the cleric to court for allegedly making defamatory remarks about his political character.
Kwankwaso, through his lawyers, Magaji Mato Ibrahim SAN & Co, accused the Ayodele of making false, malicious and derogatory statements capable of damaging his reputation and political integrity.
In a letter dated June 11, 2026 and posted on X by Saifullahi Hassan, Kwankwaso’s media aide on Wednesday, the lawyers said their client’s attention had been drawn to a viral publication allegedly made by the cleric and circulated on social media as well as local and international news platforms.
The letter alleged that Ayodele, while addressing a congregation in a sermon that was recorded and livestreamed, made comments suggesting that Kwankwaso was insincere in his relationship with Peter Obi and had been financially induced to become his running mate.
According to the solicitors, Ayodele said, “Kwankwaso is a fake to Obi, Kwankwaso will betray you. Kwankwaso has been paid to be vice president to Obi”.
The lawyers argued that the statements directly attacked their client’s credibility, sincerity of purpose and political integrity.
“The Publication directly and unequivocally refers to our Client and attacks his credibility, sincerity of purpose and political integrity as the Vice-presidential Candidate and running mate to Peter Obi under the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) political party,” the letter reads.
They further described the remarks as “deliberate, premeditated, false, unprovoked, grossly unfounded and unsubstantiated,” adding that they portrayed Kwankwaso “to right thinking members of the society as deviant, hypocritic, deceitful and insincere”.
According to the lawyers, the alleged publication was intended to tarnish the reputation Kwankwaso had built over the years and sow division among members and supporters of the NDC.
The solicitors demanded that Ayodele, within 24 hours, issue a “full, direct and unequivocal retraction” of the alleged defamatory statements and publish an apology.
“That you immediately within twenty-four (24) hours publish a full, direct and unequivocal retraction of and apology for the false, malicious and defamatory publication against our Client, on all social media platforms and reputable local and international news outlets, while ensuring that the retraction and apology is given the same visibility and prominence as your defamatory publication,” the lawyers demanded.
“You provide a written undertaking that henceforth, you will cease and desist from publishing or republishing any defamatory or malicious content against our Client through any medium and on any platform whatsoever.”
The lawyers warned that failure to comply with the demands would result in legal action.
“Take Notice that if you neglect, fail or refuse to accede to our reasonable demands within the stipulated time frame, we have our Client’s unflinching instruction to take out appropriate legal proceedings against you without further recourse to you, wherein we shall claim substantial damages to the tune of Ten Billion Naira and cost of the action on a full indemnity basis amongst other reliefs,” the letter stated.
(Ripples)
