Why Pastor Ituah Ighodalo Was Sacked From RCCG For Marrying His Late Wife, Ibidun
“Life is a deep mystery and nobody can really understand LIFE!” These are the words of Pastor Ituah Ighodalo when he was preaching shortly after announcing the death of his lovely wife, Ibidunni Ighadalo.
Ibidun died on Sunday morning June 14, 2020 in Port Harcourt after reportedly suffering a cardiac arrest.
Ibidun, before her death was working in Bayelsa and Rivers States, assisting with the building of isolation centres for COVID-19 patients. Before her death, she was the boss of Elizabeth R. an upscale event management company.
The Christian community in Nigeria woke up to the rude shock of the demise of this lovely wife of Trinity House Church founder, Pastor Ighodalo and tributes keep pouring in as people eulogize her and the good works she did while she was alive.
Her death has brought back so many memories of how it all started and I will be looking at how her marriage to Pastor Ituah 14 years ago sparked off controversies that rocked one of the biggest churches in Nigeria, The Redeemed Christain Church of God, RCCG.
Pastor Ighodalo was a pastor in RCCG before he started Trinity House Church with controversies trailing his departure from the church.
Before giving you the full story, let’s start from where it all began.
How it started
Pastor Ituah was born in Ibadan on April 6, 1961. He attended the King’s College Lagos and the International School, University of Ibadan. He obtained a combined honours degree in Economics and Accounting in 1982 from the University of Hull, England, and attended a Business Certification Course at Harvard Business School in 2011. He commenced his professional career in 1982 at Pricewater House and later founded Ighodalo & Co., a professional public Accounting firm in January 1987.
He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and also of the Chartered Institute of Taxation; he is a member of the Nigerian Institute of Management, a Member American Society of Industrial Security, Member American Institute of Management. He sits on the board of several companies, chairing some of them.
He gave his life to Christ in 1993 and was ordained an Assistant Pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in 1995 while in City of David, Victoria Island and full pastor in 2000 while Pastoring RCCG Christ Church, Gbagada. While with the RCCG, he was actively involved in the settling up of International missions, helping to pioneer several RCCG Parishes locally and abroad.
Pastor Ituah Ighodalo became popular while pastoring the Christ Church Parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God Gbagada. He nurtured it and it became one of the best RCCG parishes in the country. He also became one of the favorite sons of the General overseer, Pastor Adeboye to the consternation of some top pastors who were jealous of his successes. Members of his parish loved him so much that when he was transferred at one time, they protested so much that he was brought back to the church.
His first marriage and remarriage
Ighodalo was earlier married to Lucy-Ann Summer, also a Chartered Accountant like himself. Ighodalo said he married a fellow accountant, Lucy-Ann Summer whom he said he met “while I was going up and down” in 1995.His first marriage was said to have been contracted abroad and when they could not produce any child and he wanted to return back to Nigeria, his wife refused to return to Nigeria to join him. He had been separated from his first wife for many years and the woman was said to have remarried and even have kids with her new husband.
In an interview he granted This Day Newspapers years ago, 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.
After he became born again, he was divorced for about 10 years and alone before he met the beautiful former Miss Lux, Ibidunni Ajayi in 2007. She was 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 Ituah tied the nuptial knot on 26 February 2007, followed by the traditional wedding three days later in Ibadan, Oyo State.
His sack from RCCG
Two years after remarrying, trouble started for him in the Lord’s vineyard where he was working. The trustees of RCCG said it was against their doctrine for Ighodalo to take this step. According to the report, The Redeemed Church does not support remarriage, except when one’s spouse is deceased.
It was alleged that his getting married again 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 who asked him to resign. He had to leave RCCG with his wife in August 2009 and promptly started his own church, Trinity House Church which has grown with amazing speed from inception.
Pastor Adeboye’s take on the whole issue
About a year later, The General Overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye broke his silence on the whole controversies that surrounded the way Pastor Ituah left RCCG to start his own church.
He said he only disagreed with his spiritual son, pastor Ighodalo on the basis of his doctrine but still loved him very much like a son.
He said in concrete terms that there was never a time he cursed Pastor Ituah Ighodalo like a lot of people were saying at that time. He made it very clear that he does not curse people.
He said Ituah is his son and will remain his son and warned mischief makers to mind their own business. Adeboye said when what happen happened in apparent reference to the suspension of Ighodalo from RCCG, he said the church rules needed to be followed to the letter, so when he decided to leave, he cannot be stopped.
Adeboye had warned his Pastors during one of the ministers ‘conference of the church held at Redemption Camp before the whole saga that only death can make any pastor of the church re-marry. He said, whosoever wants to divorce can do so if such minister is ready to relinquish all spiritual duties in the church, adding that every member had a right to leave the church if such person cannot abide by the rules and regulations of the church.
Now this beautiful woman is gone but LIFE continues! May her soul rest in peace!
Now that his wife, Ibidun is dead, it has brought back so many memories of what transpired back then when their marriage sparked off controversies in Christendom on the issue of divorce and remarriage. This issue is still subject to hot debate in Christianity till today.
What do you think about the controversies surrounding divorce and remarriage in Christianity today? Drop your comments below.
