…Why Nigerian celebrities, politicians worship him
…Has he quit the heavenly race for exotic car racing?
…What would Jesus say?
In the world of London-based Pastor Tobi Adegboyega, there are no contraptions or clunkers; neither is there a pretence to piety or prudence; it is all bling bling, Burberrys, and Bentleys; and luxury and lavish living.
Pastor Tobi is unpretentiously extravagant unlike many of his colleagues in the Lord’s vineyard. He lives the obscenely ostentatious life of a rock star or a decadent football star. He has an insatiable taste for high-street fashion that sometimes borders on gaudiness; just as he has for high-end cars, which he has a good number of ranging from Lamborghini to Ferrari and Bentley.
All his cars come with vanity number plates like Pastor or PT or SPAC 1 to SPAC 4 – the acronym of his church, Salvation Proclaimers Anointed Church, SPAC Nation. Established in 2008, SPAC Nation reportedly never had a permanent church location but held its Sunday services at expensive hotels around Croydon, South London. Pastor Tobi lives in an eight-bedroom luxury house worth 2.5 million Pounds at an affluent estate in Surrey County, which he bought in 2017.
On his Instagram page, Pastor Tobi can be seen clad in designer clothes – there was even a video of him flashing what he said was a 100,000 pounds diamond ring with the SPAC Nation slogan ‘Semen, Tempus, Messis,’ (‘the harvest is ready’). When he celebrated his 43rd birthday days back, he had his friends paint the city of London red with a fleet of Ferraris and Lamborghinis, which prompted questions like whether he was quitting the heavenly race for an exotic car race.
Later in the night, there was an elaborate black-tie party graced by many prominent Nigerians including the Elegushi of Ikateland, Oba Saheed Elegushi. Popular Fuji maestro, K1 De Ultimate, was flown in from Nigeria to serenade guests. Not surprisingly because Pastor Tobi is an avowed fan of the Fuji king who even has a special track in the Pastor’s honour.
Reportedly very generous, his London home has become a Mecca of sorts for many Nigerian celebrities including Davido and his 30BG gang, Daddy Freeze, Broda Shaggi, and Eniola Badmus whom he gifted a top-of-the-shelf Hermes Birkin bag earlier this year. A piece of Hermes Birkin bag is sold for thousands of dollars.
In an Instagram post to show her appreciation, the popular actress wrote, “Over the weekend with @tobiadegboyega_ and am so grateful for this huge gift @Hermes BAG which goes a long way in my heart, thank you for believing in me and what I stand for. If you know me too well, you will agree that I am not the one that bows to societal pressure or restriction on who I am or what I believe in.
“I have also stood against anything that stands against me as a woman, in fact when you say it is not possible I will hit it harder because I know I can. Oya time to unleash my Hermes bag… Our PASTOR no Dey collect, @tobiadegboyega_ Dey give us.”
He had also been spotted spraying Davido wads of pound sterling at a London restaurant. In 2022, Davido’s wife, Chef Chioma, was the beneficiary of an equally expensive handbag from the pastor.
But it is not all glitter and gold in the world of the trendy pastor. There have been posers as to his source of wealth. Whilst he claims that he invested early in cryptocurrency, investigations into the financial dealings of the church showed a groundswell of malfeasance. After an Insolvency Service investigation found that the organization could not properly account for $2.4 million (£1.87 million) of expenditures, SPAC Nation’s primary company was effectively dissolved by the U.K.’s High Court in June 2022 while its charitable status was revoked a month later.
“While SPAC Nation claimed it had noble intentions to support vulnerable and young people, our enquiries uncovered a different side of the charity … SPAC Nation failed to properly account for income received from donations and other expenditures,” Edna Okhiria, Chief Investigator for the Insolvency Service, said in a statement at the time.
Whatever the situation is, it has not dulled Pastor Tobi’s shine, only that the heavenly race seems to be in abeyance for now.
