Former Kano State Governor and Vice-Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has issued a legal threat against the founder of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele, over comments allegedly suggesting he could betray the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
Acting through his legal representatives, Magaji Mato Ibrahim SAN & Co., Kwankwaso has given the cleric a 24-hour deadline to retract the statements and tender a public apology.
The remarks were reportedly made during a church service and later circulated widely across social media platforms.
In a demand letter dated June 11, 2026, and signed by Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Magaji Mato Ibrahim, the former governor’s legal team described the statements as false, malicious and defamatory, arguing that they were capable of causing significant harm to his reputation and political image.
According to the lawyers, the comments were made during a sermon delivered before a congregation and broadcast to a broad audience. They specifically cited statements allegedly made by Ayodele, including: “Kwankwaso is a fake to Obi, Kwankwaso will betray you, Kwankwaso has been paid to be vice president to Obi”, which they described as libelous and damaging.
“Our Client’s attention has been drawn to your viral publication which is trending on all social media platforms and in international and local news outlets, wherein you published malicious and defamatory contents against him geared toward tarnishing his long-earned reputation in Nigeria and beyond,” the letter read.
The legal team maintained that the publication directly targeted Kwankwaso and sought to undermine his credibility, sincerity and political integrity as Peter Obi’s running mate on the NDC platform ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
“The publication directly and unequivocally refers to our Client and attacks his credibility, sincerity of purpose and political integrity as the Vice-presidential Candidate and running mate to Peter Obi under the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) political party,” the letter stated.
Kwankwaso’s lawyers further argued that the allegations lacked any factual basis and were intentionally crafted to damage his public image.
“Your assertions which are deliberate, premeditated, false, unprovoked, grossly unfounded and unsubstantiated meant and negatively portrays our Client to right thinking members of the society as deviant, hypocritic, deceitful and insincere,” the letter added.
They also accused the cleric of attempting to create disunity within the NDC and among its supporters through the publication.
“The intended messages in your publication are carefully designed and curated to gravely damage the sparkling reputation which our Client has painstakingly built over the years and to create a rift within the ranks of the members of NDC and their teeming supporters alike,” the lawyers said.
As part of the demands outlined in the letter, Ayodele was asked to issue a “full, direct and unequivocal retraction” of the statements within 24 hours and publish an apology across all social media platforms as well as local and international media outlets where the comments gained traction.
The legal representatives also requested a written undertaking from the cleric, assuring that he would refrain from making or republishing any further defamatory statements concerning Kwankwaso.
The letter warned that failure to comply with the demands within the stipulated timeframe would result in legal action, including a claim for substantial damages.
“Take Notice that if you neglect, fail or refuse to accede to our reasonable demands within the stipulated time frame, we have our Client’s unflinching instruction to take out appropriate legal proceedings against you without further recourse to you, wherein we shall claim substantial damages to the tune of Ten Billion Naira and cost of the action on a full indemnity basis amongst other reliefs,” the letter stated.
As of the time this report was filed, Primate Ayodele had yet to publicly respond to the demands contained in the letter.
