The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) has suspended Pastor Idowu Iluyomade, the church’s senior pastor in the City of David.
Iluyomade, the head of the RCCG’s Apapa family, was reportedly suspended over the weekend, according to a source.
The church’s governing council reportedly suspended Iluyomade for three months. A commission has also been formed to investigate some of the charges made against him and the parish.
A leading church pastor stated that the decision to suspend Iluyomade was in response to the public outcry over his wife’s opulent birthday celebration, which occurred shortly after the death of former Access Bank CEO Herbert Wigwe.
Iluyomade has subsequently been replaced by Pastor Charles Kpandei of the RCCG Resurrection Parish in Region 11 of the church.
Chronicle NG gathered that Kpandei resumed at the City of David on Sunday, June 2, and was given a cold welcome.
The sources said: “Those in the City of David had been expecting Pastor Kpandei. Some top RCCG officials had to meet with some top people in the parish and confide in them that Pastor Idowu would have to be removed from the parish.
“They needed to get the confidence of these top people because of the great influence of Pastor Iluyomade in the parish. The RCCG was not sure of the outcome of its move, so it had to be discreet. He may not be returned to the parish after the suspension.
“We have just three months until the convention. It may be a way of taking him away from the place permanently. He has spent many years in that parish. He needed to be moved.
“It was not Pastor Adeboye who suspended him. The governing council decided to suspend him. I think it’s a decision in the right direction. Though some believe it is coming late, They needed to investigate some of the things people were saying against him and the church.”
Pastor Iluyomade, affectionately known as PID, has been at the eye of the storm since his wife, Siji Iluyomade, turned sixty.
Many others thought the birthday, which was held barely a week after Wigwe’s tragic death in a helicopter crash in the United States, was in poor taste.
Wigwe had been a huge blessing to the church prior to his transition. But the birthday party implied that the church had no emotional attachment to him.
