Adeboye Sacks Popular Pastor For Remarrying 10 Years After Divorce
August 07, 2009 14:18 (4 hours ago), 668 views

By Paul Dada

One of the renowned provincial pastors of The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, has been asked to quit the church.

P.M.News learnt that the pastor of the Christ Church Parish of the RCCG, in Gbagada, a suburb of Lagos, which is one of the most flourishing parishes of the church in the area, was compelled to quit because he got married a second time.

The General Overseer of RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, was said to have asked Ighodalo to resign because of this development.
•Ighodalo, the sacked Pastor


A source in the church denied that Ighodalo was sacked, adding that Pastor Adeboye advised him to resign because he had to remarry, contrary to Biblical injunction since his former wife is still alive.

Ighodalo was earlier married to Lucy-Ann Summer, also a Chartered Accountant like himself, whom he divorced. He later got married to former Miss Lux, Ibidunni Ajayi in 2007.

His first marriage was said to have been contracted abroad and when they could not produce any child, and his wife refused to return to Nigeria to join him. After he became born again, they broke up.

The Redeemed Church does not support remarriage, except when one’s spouse is deceased.

Ighodalo, whose first wife is not dead, reportedly waited for more than 10 years before taking Ibidunni to the altar.

His getting married again, P.M.News was told, has been encouraging other pastors of the Redeemed Church to also desire to divorce their wives and remarry. And this did not go down well with Pastor Adeboye

Ighodalo was said to have announced to his congregation that he was quitting the church.

However, P.M.News learnt from another source that the popular pastor resigned when he could no longer cope with the politics being played in the church.

It was gathered that some of his envious colleagues, who were not comfortable with his closeness to the GO, as Pastor Adeboye is called, were flexing muscles with him.

“This, at a point, led to his transfer to another parish. But his congregation at the Gbagada Parish kicked against the transfer and clamoured for his return, which prompted his recall. He had to quit eventually when the pressure from those who don’t want him in Gbagada was taking its toll on him,” said our source.

When P.M.News contacted Ighodalo on phone, he described the report that he had left the church as false.

He stated that he was still a pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God and declined further comments when asked about the circumstances surrounding his present predicament.

On 26 April this year, Ighodalo granted an interview to ThisDay newspaper where he spoke  on why he divorced his first wife.

Ighodalo said he married a fellow accountant, Lucy-Ann Summer whom he said he met “while I was going up and down” in 1995.

He disclosed that Ann refused to join him in Nigeria and after much persuasion failed, she left. “Because the expectations from the marriage were not met, she met someone else that met those expectations…,” the pastor added.

Ighodalo later met another lady, Ibidunni Ajayi, then a Youth Corps member. The courtship lasted over four years, even though he proposed to Ibidunni after 18 months of friendship.

According to the newspaper, Ibidunni and Itua tied the nuptial knot on 26 February 2007 and was  followed by the traditional wedding three days later in Ibadan, Oyo State.

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