The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) has suspended the Senior Pastor of the City of David parish, Idowu Iluyomade.
According to The Nation, Iluyomade who is also the head of the Apapa Family of the RCCG, was suspended over the weekend.
He was said to have been suspended for three months by the church’s Governing Council while a panel has also been set up to investigate some of the allegations against him and the parish.
A top pastor in the church said the decision to suspend Iluyomade was a response to the public outcry against the extravagant birthday party his wife, Siju Iluyomade, threw shortly after the death of a prominent member of the church and former CEO of Access Bank, Herbert Wigwe.
Iluyomade has since been replaced by Pastor Charles Kpandei of RCCG Resurrection Parish of Region 11 of the church. Kpandei resumed at the City of David on Sunday, June 2 and was said to have been given a cold welcome.
“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 confided 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 to 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 that 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.”
Fondly called PID, Pastor Iluyomade has been in the eyes of the storm following the 60th birthday of his wife, Siji Iluyomade. Many people believed the birthday which was celebrated just about a week after the unfortunate death of Wigwe in a helicopter crash in the US was in bad taste.
The Instagram page bio of Pastor Iluyomade, however, still refers to him as the Senior Pastor at the City of David Parish.