Mr Macaroni rejects Tinubu’s prophet for seeking vote on tribal grounds
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Skit maker Mr Macaroni, real name Debo Adedayo – popular EndSars activist, Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s critic – has urged fellow youths and other demographics to ignore a self-proclaimed prophet rooting for Bola Tinubu because of his tribe.
Tinubu, All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, is Yoruba from the South West, like Mr Macaroni himself, likewise Israel Ogundipe, a member of the Celestial Church of Christ (CCC), who was jailed by a Lagos High Court in 2020 for defrauding a Nigerian architect based in London of N14 million and £12,000.
“I cannot be a Yoruba boy and go and vote for Igbo. I don’t care, I am not afraid,” Ogundipe last Sunday told his congregation at CCC Genesis Global Parish in Lagos, where he takes on the title of “Senior Prophet”.
Mr Macaroni, 29, riposted on Tweeter on Tuesday:
“Dear Nigerians, If your religious leader is asking you to abandon all the qualities of a good leader and vote for the next President of this Nation just because you are from the same tribe as the candidate, then there is serious fire on the mountain. RUN!! Vote Wisely.”
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Ogundipe’s advocacy
“I support Tinubu, you like it or not, I don’t care. You know me, I am not afraid. You know why? Because if I see another Yoruba person I will support. That is the only Yoruba person I am seeing.
“Hear me, journalist, if you want to write, write. If you want to attack me, attack me. I am not a bastard,” Ogundipe told his congregation, per reporting by The Nation.
“I cannot be a Yoruba boy and go and vote for Igbo. I don’t care, I am not afraid. I have not eaten from Tinubu’s money. I am not asking him for money. And I will never ask him for money. I don’t need his help. God is my helper.
“But I am a prophet. If you are one of the youths they are bribing or some people they are gathering together ….”
Ogundipe jailed for N14m, £12K fraud in 2020
A Lagos High Court in September 2020 jailed Ogundipe for committing N14 million and £12,000 fraud and granted ‘post-conviction bail’ by the Court of Appeal in April 2021 on health grounds, as reported by Premium Times on 11 April 2021.
The report is reproduced below:
It was jubilation at the Celestial Church of Christ [CCC] Genesis Global on Sunday, as the Senior Prophet of the church, Israel Ogundipe, returned to church after he was granted a ‘post-conviction bail’ by the Court of Appeal.
In a video shared on the official Instagram handle of CCC Genesis Global on Sunday, [Ogundipe] was received by members amidst jubilations.
The video also showed [him] singing praises and hymns during the service.
Ogundipe was earlier convicted and sentenced to jail by a judge of the Lagos High Court, Olabisi Akinlade, for defrauding a London-based architect and converting her property for personal use.
Ogundipe [had been] arraigned on a seven-count charge which included stealing, unlawful conversion of property, forgery, and fraudulently collecting the sums of N14 million and £12,000 from the victim between 2002 and 2005.
The judge, Akinlade, who convicted [Ogundipe] on two offences bordering on stealing and unlawful conversion of property, sentenced him to one-year imprisonment on each count in September 2020.
The judge also ruled that [he] pay the victim, Oladele Williams-Oni, a sum of N11 million which he acquired from her unlawfully.
Following his conviction and imprisonment, Ogundipe through his lawyer, Babatunde Ogala, approached the Court of Appeal, where he applied for bail before hearing commenced on the appeal application.
Giving the reasons for the bail application, Ogala, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said his client has health challenges and deserves medical attention.
Ogala said [Ogundipe]was diabetic and was already “gaunt in appearance” because of the time spent in custody and lack of adequate diet.
According to a report by The PUNCH, Abdullah Bayero, one of the judges who heard the application, on April 1, ruled in favour of the applicant, saying he met the criteria for granting a convict bail.
The judge said the applicant has hypertension, diabetes, peptic ulcer and unending malaria.
“There are criteria for granting a convict bail. These include that the applicant must be a first-time offender or have a serious health condition.
“The applicant seeking bail pending appeal before the court is a first-time offender and he has also shown to the court that he is having hypertension, peptic ulcer, unending malaria, and diabetes, which are serious health conditions,” Bayero ruled.
Following his release on bail, Ogundipe joined his church members on Sunday where he was received amidst jubilation and thanksgiving.