The Founder of the SPAC Nation church, Tobi Adegboyega, has lost his fight against deportation from the United Kingdom over an alleged £1.87 million fraud.
An immigration tribunal has ruled that Adegboyega should be deported back to Nigeria after investigations exposed the misuse of funds by his church, London-based newspaper The Telegraph reported on Tuesday, December 3, 2024.
The British daily newspaper disclosed that 44-year-old Adegboyega has lived in the UK unlawfully since overstaying on a visitor’s visa that allowed him to enter Britain in 2005.
SPAC Nation church had been shut down in the UK after failing to properly account for more than £1.87 million of outgoings and operating with a lack of transparency.
In 2019, Adegboyega applied for leave to remain under the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) – having married a British woman. His application was initially dismissed by a first-tier immigration tribunal before he appealed.
He claimed deportation would breach his right under the ECHR to a family life – having married a British woman.
The controversial cleric also said the attempt to remove him by the Home Office failed to take account of his community work with SPAC.
Describing a “charismatic” community leader of a large, well-organised church, his legal team claimed that he had “intervened in the lives of many hundreds of young people, predominantly from the black communities in London, to lead them away from trouble”.
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He claimed his work had been “lauded” by politicians including Boris Johnson and senior figures within the Metropolitan Police, although no testimony by them was submitted to the court.
He said that without his personal presence in London, projects that he had masterminded would fall apart or reduce in size.
However, the tribunal was told the Home Office contended “all is not as it seems”.
The tribunal said: “Various manifestations of (Mr Adegboyega’s) church have been closed down, by either the Charity Commission or the High Court, because of concerns over its finances and lack of transparency.
“Former members of the church have alleged that it is a cult, in which impoverished young people are encouraged to do anything they can to donate money, including taking out large loans, committing benefit fraud and even selling their own blood.
“It is alleged that the church leadership lead lavish lifestyles and there have, it is said, been instances of abuse. The (Home Office’s) case before us was that all of this needs to be taken into account when evaluating whether (Mr Adegboyega) is in fact of real value to the UK.”
In the tribunal, Adegboyega maintained no one had ever faced criminal charges over his church’s finances, adding that many of the attacks on him and SPAC Nation were politically motivated.
He stated that claims the church was a cult were unfounded.
However, the tribunal was told the Charity Commission concluded “there had been serious misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of the charity which was sustained over a substantial period of time”.
The tribunal also found Adegboyega’s evidence to be “hyperbolic in many instances” and had “sought to grossly inflate his influence”.
The tribunal added: “We find it to be implausible that he has the time to undertake all of this work personally.
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“We are not satisfied that the good work that SPAC Nation undertakes generally would collapse or even significantly suffer should the Appellant be required to leave the UK.
“Weighing all of the foregoing in the balance we conclude that the decision to refuse leave to remain was wholly proportionate.
“Mr Adegboyega seeks to rely on family and private life relationships, all of which have been established whilst he was in the UK unlawfully, and which would survive his return to Nigeria.
“The interference would therefore be limited, and lawful in all the circumstances.”
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