Primate Ayodele warns: ‘Don’t die for politicians, Tinubu and Atiku are friends’
By Mercy Ajekigbe
Primate Elijah Ayodele, the founder of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, has warned Nigerians against fighting over political parties, saying politicians often use their supporters to advance their political interests.
Ayodele gave the warning in a video uploaded on Monday, August 17, 2026. He advised Nigerians not to allow politicians to manipulate them into violence during elections.
He further said that politicians, despite their political rivalries, often reconcile after elections, unlike their supporters who may fight against one another.
“Don’t die for politicians. Tinubu and Atiku, they are friends. You only fight and fight and fight and fight and kill yourself.”
He criticised political violence in general while relating his concerns to the Osun election, which witnessed incidents of violence and verbal attacks between party supporters. According to him, supporters who sacrifice themselves for politicians are often left to bear the consequences alone.
“Don’t kill yourself. Election is coming soon. Don’t let them use you because of N1m or N500,000 they will give you. If you lose, they shoot your leg or they kidnap you or they do anything, it’s your headache.”
“You lost, your family lost. Adeleke, Oyetola, they will greet themselves. They will do padi padi thing.”
Ayodele also said that politicians use people, including religious leaders, to serve their interests and abandon them once their objectives have been achieved.
“They will only use you and dump you. They will use people like us too, pastors, and they will dump us. That is not a problem.”
According to him, politicians would not subject their own children or families to the risks their supporters take.
