Tobi Adegboyega, a Nigerian pastor at the center of a United
Kingdom (UK) deportation controversy, says he overstayed in the country because
he “lost track of time”.
In an interview with the BBC published on Friday, the
founder of the SPAC Nation church said he arrived in the UK aged 25 in 2005 on
a visitor’s visa but failed to legalise his stay.
The pastor said he assumed his family was handling his
immigration paperwork.
“I lost track of time,” he said, referring to the nearly
decade-long delay in applying to regularise his immigration status.
The 44-year-old is also said to have lost his battle against
deportation from the UK over an alleged £1.87 million fraud.
Local reports said an immigration tribunal ruled that
Adegboyega be deported to Nigeria after investigations exposed misuse of funds
by his church.
However, the charismatic preacher dismissed the allegations
in the BBC interview.
“There is no deportation order, let me make that clear,” he
said.
Adegboyega said the case was an “ongoing issue” and added
that the decision to decide his fate is in the hands of the judges.
The pastor said the allegations of fraud came from
“disgruntled members” of his church.
“How on earth do you run an organisation without disgruntled
people?” he asked.
Adegboyega said his church has helped get hundreds of knives
off the streets and has tackled gun violence in the UK.
Addressing criticism over his lavish lifestyle, the
preacher, who has repeatedly sported luxury items, said, “I put on what is
right, what connects to the generation I’m speaking to, so they are not
attracted to drug dealers”.
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