Pastor Tobi not ready to leave London just yet

Nigeria-born Pastor Tobi Adegboyega, founder of Salvation Proclaimers Anointed Church, commonly known as SPAC Nation, is not ready to leave the United Kingdom yet as the flamboyant man of God is set to explore another option to throw away tribunal verdicts that approved his deportation to Nigeria.

The cleric, who is usually seen in the company of celebrities displaying an affluent and opulent lifestyle, became enmeshed in a scandal when the UK Charity Commission and High Court investigations revealed financial impropriety involving over £1.87m, leading to the closure of his church in 2022.

This eventually led to the request for his deportation, which had been approved by the judiciary twice.

However, Pastor Tobi is unperturbed as he affirmed on Instagram, dismissing the allegations, insisting that no amount of persecution would bring him down.

He still has an option of appealing the upper tribunal judgement at the Court of Appeal of England and Wales.

According to the UK Home Office, he must file the appeal within 28 days of being given permission to do so by the upper tribunal.

But in reaction to the latest judgement, he had said, “I’m right here at home, no cause for alarm. Naturally, I will dismiss things that have to do with retrogression; every Nigerian should be proud of me. Living in the UK, a city that is well known for pulling people down, I have survived all sorts, so the matter that they are propagating is the smallest matter.

“No panic, I love London city, it is my city and nobody can do anything. Of all the people of colour you know here – pastors and leaders, I have survived everything.

“I’m here, I am at home, nobody should panic for me. I succeeded well in this country despite all challenges and I’m in the league of people you look up to. I have survived that well, nothing has changed, nothing will change.

“I’m here, number one in London City and nothing is going to bring us down.”

The 44-year-old pastor, who arrived in the UK on a visitor’s visa in 2005 but did not leave when it expired, had sought to remain in the European country on human rights grounds. He had married a British citizen.

After the Home Office denied his request, he appealed to the first-tier tribunal, which equally turned him down.

Subsequently, he appealed to the upper tribunal on August 15, 2022.

The controversial pastor, through his lawyer, Dele Olawanle, told the tribunal that his church had initiated various intervention programmes to rescue troubled youths on the streets of the UK from gangs and crime.

Adegboyega also argued that his deportation would harm his projects and community influence, which he claimed had been supported and recognised by prominent UK figures, including former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and senior figures within the Metropolitan Police.

He also claimed that he had played an instrumental role in setting up a food bank which had provided 136,000 meals for children, adding that he “intervened in the lives of many hundreds of young people, predominantly from the black communities in London, to lead them away from trouble”.

Adegboyega added that he established a network of safe houses throughout London where he accommodated young people trying to avoid gang conflicts.

But the upper tribunal judges, Bruce and Rastogi, insisted that Adegboyega must return to Nigeria despite his arguments.

The court rejected Adegboyega’s appeals, citing his unlawful stay in the UK and exaggeration of his community work claims.

The tribunal ruled that Adegboyega had “grossly inflated” his contributions, describing his claims as “hyperbolic” and unsupported by substantive evidence.

The court noted that the pastor failed to provide corroborative evidence that the UK police endorsed and supported his works.

The court insisted that his work could continue without his presence in the UK and dismissed his marriage to a British citizen as insufficient to counterbalance his immigration violations.

“We do, however, note the absence of corroborative evidence in respect of the most prominent agencies that the appellant (Adegboyega) claims as his supporters.

“There was nothing before us from the Metropolitan Police, Downing Street, the Mayor of London or the Home Office, all institutions which the appellant claims to have enthusiastically endorsed his work,” the court affirmed.

“For instance, there was nothing at all to support his assertions that his presence in London is needed to ‘calm the nerves of people from ethnic minorities’ following the ‘fascist uprising’ of August 2024, or that his presence is an ‘absolute necessity’ to fighting crime. There was no corroboration for his claim to have visited Downing Street on ‘countless occasions’. These are examples of areas of the appellant’s evidence where we are satisfied that he has sought to grossly inflate his influence.

Adegboyega, however, said he had never taken a penny from the church.

“I’m here, number one in London City and nothing is going to bring us down.”

Few hours later, another video of Adegboyega surfaced online showing him dancing with others.

He claimed his companies had raised over £1m since the news of his deportation surfaced.

“They have raised over £1m in 24 hours since yesterday’s news. This is a blessing I couldn’t see coming,” he wrote.