The founder of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele, has claimed that President Bola Tinubu may not complete a second term in office if he wins the 2027 presidential election, predicting that Vice-President Kashim Shettima could eventually take over.
Ayodele made the claim in a video released on Tuesday, saying what he described as a divine revelation indicated that Tinubu could be unable to complete another four-year tenure.
The cleric said his statement was a warning rather than a curse against the President and referenced the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, who died in office in 2010 after a prolonged illness.
“If Tinubu wins the second time, he will not finish it. I stand by my word, he will not finish it,” Ayodele said.
“What happened to Yar’Adua or whatever that will make him not to finish it will lead to an emergency government, making Shettima take over from him, might happen.
“Tinubu will not finish his second term, thus says the Lord of hosts.”
Ayodele also alleged that people around the President were preventing him from receiving opinions and messages that could challenge his decisions.
The latest prophecy is not the first time Ayodele has made predictions concerning Tinubu and the 2027 election.
In April 2024, the cleric told The PUNCH that he had informed Tinubu in 2001, when he was governor of Lagos State, that he would eventually become President of Nigeria. Ayodele also said he had previously predicted that Yar’Adua would not complete his tenure, claiming that the prediction was published in 2006.
He has continued to make political predictions ahead of the 2027 election. In January 2026, Ayodele warned Tinubu against replacing Shettima and predicted possible changes to the Vice Presidency ahead of the election.
In July, he also said he foresaw changes involving the Vice President, Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Senate President, among other political positions.
In August, Ayodele said Tinubu’s chances of securing a second term would depend, in part, on the level of coordination among opposition parties.
Ayodele has previously defended his record of prophecy, telling The PUNCH that he began making prophecies in 1988 and that some of his predictions had later materialized. He cited, among others, his claimed prediction of Tinubu’s eventual presidency and his warning concerning Yar’Adua. These remain claims attributed to the cleric rather than independently established evidence of supernatural prediction.
For the latest prediction, Ayodele maintained that Tinubu would not complete a second term if elected in 2027 and said the circumstances could result in Shettima assuming the presidency before 2031.