⚖️ Outcome of UK Financial and Regulatory Investigations
The UK’s regulatory bodies have taken decisive and severe actions against the organization Tobi Adegboyega founded, the Salvation Proclaimers Ministries Church, also known as SPAC Nation.
1. High Court Closure (Insolvency Service)
- The Company Wound Up: In June 2022, the UK High Court wound up Salvation Proclaimer Ministries Limited (the corporate entity behind SPAC Nation) “in the public interest” following an investigation by the Insolvency Service.
- Financial Misconduct: The court found the company failed to properly account for over £1.87 million in expenditure, operated with a lack of transparency, filed suspicious or incorrect accounts, and was insolvent.
- Failed to Account: Adegboyega failed to provide records to support claimed donations and the substantial expenditure, including £610,000 for rent, despite the organization having no single base of its own.
2. Charity Commission Findings
- Inquiry Conclusion: A statutory inquiry by the UK Charity Commission found serious misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of the charity.
- Trustee Disqualification: The Commission disqualified several trustees, including Tobi Adegboyega’s brother, Adedapo Adegboyega, from holding charity trustee or senior management roles for between 10 to 12 years due to financial and safeguarding failures.
- Safeguarding Failures: The inquiry revealed the trustees’ implementation of safeguarding policies was inadequate, particularly concerning the inappropriately run “safe houses” (referred to as “Trap Houses”) for vulnerable young people, placing beneficiaries at risk.
3. Deportation Proceedings
- Loss of Appeal: In late 2024, Tobi Adegboyega lost his appeal against deportation to Nigeria at an immigration tribunal.
- Basis for Ruling: The tribunal ruled that he should be deported after finding that his claim to a right to family life established while he lived in the UK unlawfully (after overstaying his visa since 2005) did not outweigh the public interest, noting that the closure of his church was due to “concerns over its finances and lack of transparency.”
🎙️ Specific Teachings and the Prosperity Gospel
Adegboyega’s ministry is rooted firmly in a controversial strain of the Prosperity Gospel blended with modern entrepreneurial principles.
- Wealth as a Measure of Faith: A central teaching is the belief that God rewards believers with material wealth and health, and that the lack of wealth is often a sign of spiritual or moral weakness. For instance, he has controversially stated that “even with salvation, if you’re poor, you’ll still sin.”
- The “Seed” Principle: The ministry strongly encourages the practice of **”seeding”—**giving money (often in large, specific amounts, like £1,000 monthly) to the church as an investment that God is obligated to multiply back to the giver in material blessings, such as luxury items, investments, and financial freedom.
- Targeted Success: His message is highly effective with young, often financially disadvantaged, individuals by promising a direct, radical pathway out of poverty and crime into a flashy, affluent, entrepreneurial lifestyle, often showcased through his own luxury cars and designer aesthetic.
