Quincy Ayodele, an elder of the City of David Parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), has revealed that former parish pastor Idowu Iluyomade was not just suspended but later barred from stepping into any RCCG premises.
Ayodele disclosed this during an interview with on-air personality Daddy Freeze on Monday.
She said after serving a three-month suspension, Iluyomade had expected to be reinstated but instead received a letter forbidding him from entering the church.
“We were expecting that after the three months, he would be restored to City of David, but to our surprise, we were told he was given a letter not to step into the church,” she said.
Contrary to claims that Iluyomade rebelled against RCCG before launching his ministry, The Family Fellowship, Ayodele insisted he had not gone against the church’s leadership.
“He was told not to enter the City of David. Why they did that is only known to our daddy, the Governing Council, and God. I cannot answer why. But we are curious.”
Ayodele also refuted reports that the late Access Holdings CEO, Herbert Wigwe, was the primary sponsor of the Trinity Towers project at City of David.
“Many people contributed to the building of the tower, and some gave as much as Wigwe gave,” she said.
“There were many as committed to the church as he was.”
The herbal medicine practitioner and WHO consultant said Iluyomade had made substantial contributions to RCCG and General Overseer Pastor Enoch Adeboye.
She highlighted his initiatives, including free schools, feeding the hungry weekly, and impacting society using church funds.
“Pastor Adeboye and Pastor Iluyomade were like father and son. There is nothing Adeboye wanted that Iluyomade would not go out of his way to make available,” she noted.
Addressing the controversial party that allegedly led to Iluyomade’s suspension, Ayodele stated that it had been planned before Wigwe’s death and that the aso ebi for the event was sent to Pastor Folu Adeboye.
Expressing her concerns, she questioned why Iluyomade was permanently banned despite serving his suspension.
“We had expected that the church would post him to another parish,” she said.
“But that was not the case. What we heard was that he was given a letter that he must not step into the City of David.”
She added that elders within the church wrote letters appealing to Adeboye but received no response.
“They wrote letters and penned their names on it, but there was no response from Pastor Adeboye,” she told Daddy Freeze.
When Iluyomade and his wife later attended King’s Court, another RCCG parish he had pioneered, they were welcomed at first.
“The pastor in the church welcomed them and accorded them the honour of the founding pastors only to be told later that they should not be accommodated,” Ayodele revealed.
Citing the parable of the lost sheep, she said, “Pastor Adeboye taught us that if one sheep is missing out of 100, Jesus would go after the lost sheep. I was now asking: ‘Will he now allow Iluyomade to be lost to the world?’”
She said numerous influential Nigerians tried to mediate, but Adeboye remained firm in his decision. “They went to beg him and he said he (Iluyomade) was paying a loan. But he has been paying the loan without coming to ask for money from you. So why don’t you leave him and let him finish paying the loan?”
She continued, “He said it’s okay, he will let him come back. He did not. Other people went to beg him, rolling on the floor, asking for his forgiveness. He did not.”
Asked if the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria intervened in the matter, Ayodele said, “Who will talk to him if God has not talked to him? My daddy hears from God. It is what God says that he tells us, and we believe him. He will say my daddy says and we believe him.”
Ayodele, who has been in RCCG for 32 years, emphasised her family’s deep involvement in the church, including funding multiple parishes.
She expressed dismay over Adeboye’s comments during a visit to City of David, where he allegedly referred to those who left as “demons.”
“I started wondering, is this my daddy that is talking? What is going on?” she said.
Although she did not join Iluyomade’s new ministry, Ayodele said she believed the matter could still be resolved. She explained that his new church started organically, with people seeking him out for prayers and fellowship.
“He never planned to start a church,” she said. “He was an Anglican before he joined RCCG. His father was a reverend. He had left Anglican for almost 32 years. If he goes back to Anglican, where is he going to start from?”
She also disclosed that people the Iluyomades had helped abandoned them in their moment of trial. “I can tell you that. They were not even praying for him in the City of David that he left. When I got to him, he was weeping, telling me that he was told not to step into the church.”
Ayodele said if given the opportunity, she would plead with Adeboye to forgive Iluyomade and welcome him back into RCCG.
On January 19, 2025, Iluyomade and his wife, Siju, officially launched The Family Fellowship in Lagos.
A week later, during their second service on January 26, he announced that the ministry had secured a permanent site at Eko Atlantic City, with the land donated by a church member.
