November 21, (THEWILL) – Nigerian cleric based in the United Kingdom, Tobi Adegboyega, recently clocked 41 and unlike most other clerics, who would prefer a quiet and eventful celebration, he chose to paint the city of London red in a convoy of exotic cars. The vehicles included seven colourful Lamborghinis, Range Rovers and a couple of Mercedes Benz G-Wagon SUVs, all driven by his junior pastors and some members of his church.
They all gathered at an upscale restaurant for a three-course birthday dinner. As expected, Pastor Adegboyega was roundly criticised by some Nigerians who felt the display was a bit too much, unnecessary and unbefitting of a preacher. But his ardent followers saw nothing wrong with what he did. How could they, when they also crave that kind of flamboyance. Beyond his flamboyance, who really is Tobi Adegboyega and what is he really all about?
A cousin of British actor, John Boyega, Tobi Adegboyega is the founder of Salvation Proclaimers Anointed Church, SPAC, a pentecostal church based in London, England, otherwise known as Nxtion. He started out as a pastor under Nigeria-based Prophet Samson Ayorinde of the World Evangelism Bible Church (WEBIC) before leaving to set up SPAC in 2008, three years after he moved to London from Nigeria. However, in May 2020, Adegboyega decided to hand over SPAC to two of his able lieutenants, while he took up higher responsibilities.
The cleric lives in a mansion valued at £2.5 million and drives flashy cars, such as an orange and a yellow Lamborghini, a black Mercedes Benz G-Wagon SUV, a black Brabus and a black Range Rover SUV. These cars cost between $150.000 and $2 million apiece. He also likes to wear very outlandish, in your face, designer outfits and seems to particularly like the Louis Vuitton brand.
Besides having Rolex (s) in his collection of wristwatches, Adegboyega is an ardent fan of the Richard Mille brand. His junior pastors also follow in his footsteps, dressing in designer ensembles and drive fast cars. He also likes to throw loud late-night parties that once attracted the wrath of his wealthy neighbours.
When the cleric and his pastors show off, he explains it as community wealth and not personal wealth. He describes other flamboyant pastors and church members as a community of ‘fighters and winners’ who don’t care what anyone thinks about them. In his opinion, anyone who condemns how they live does not like good things and obviously cannot withstand their resolve.
Adegboyega has had his fair share of controversy. At different times, he has been accused of financial exploitation, financial misappropriation, fraud, domestic abuse and sexual abuse. The church at some point reportedly pressured the youths to take out loans and sell their blood in order to pay for the church’s lavish spending via their church doctrine known as “bleeding for seed”. At other times, the pastors allegedly threatened parishioners, who failed to raise enough money, or allegedly told members to beg, borrow or steal in order to make financial contributions to the church.
Adegboyega is fond of saying publicly that there is nothing wrong if a member of his church gives at least £1,000 a month to his church. A member of his church even claimed that he once requested the sum of £20,000 from him for an investment. Also, while still with WEBIC as resident pastor, he allegedly defrauded a church member of about £110,000.
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