A senior church leader in the Akure Diocese of the Anglican Communion, Chief (Engr) Ioka Ojo, has formally dissociated himself from a controversial petition dated March 28, 2026, which called for an investigation into alleged administrative and financial irregularities involving the Diocesan Bishop, Most Revd Simeon Oluwole Borokini.
In a rejoinder addressed to the Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) in Abuja, Chief Ojo described the petition as “spurious” and insisted that his name was included without his informed consent.
Chief Ojo, who serves as Baba Ijo of St. Luke’s Anglican Church, Idi-Aagba Titun, Akure, explained that he was neither involved in drafting the petition nor present at any preparatory meetings leading to its submission.
According to him, his first awareness of the issues raised came on March 29, 2026, through Chief (Mrs) S.K. Kolawole after a church service.
He further recounted being invited by Chief S. O. Fasae to attend a meeting of diocesan church chiefs on March 31 at the residence of Olori Chief (Mrs) R. O. Falae.
The meeting, he said, was presented as an effort to resolve tensions between the diocesan leadership and a group identified as “Concerned Youth of the Diocese.”
However, Chief Ojo alleged that the meeting was manipulated to endorse a pre-written petition rather than facilitate genuine dialogue. He claimed that the document was only “scantily read” and not subjected to thorough discussion or deliberation by attendees.
“There were no minutes taken, no clear agenda, and contributions from members were neither documented nor reflected in the petition,” he stated, adding that the process appeared designed to secure endorsement rather than consensus.
The octogenarian church elder also questioned the legitimacy of the petition’s signatories, noting that many were cathedral congregants rather than the diocesan chiefs he had been led to believe were involved.
During the meeting, Chief Ojo said he proposed that diocesan property managers and legal advisers be invited to provide clarity on key allegations, particularly concerning land transactions.
He also urged caution to avoid reputational damage to both the bishop and the diocese. These suggestions, he noted, were seconded by Chief J. K. Oluyide but were ultimately disregarded.
Chief Ojo further revealed that upon returning from an engagement with Oba Olu Falae, he was presented with a document and asked to write his name, church, and position—an action he said he carried out innocently, believing it to be an attendance record rather than endorsement of a petition.
“I cannot be coerced into being a party to a document I neither contributed to nor agreed with,” he declared, emphasizing that only his name—not his signature—appears on the petition.
At 83, Chief Ojo appealed to the conscience of the church, warning against actions that could harm the unity and integrity of the Anglican Communion in Akure. He described any attempt to link him to the petition as unjust and contrary to Christian principles.
The petition in question reportedly raises longstanding concerns about the administration of the diocese, some of which, according to Chief Ojo, had already been addressed at previous synods over several years.
READ FULL MESSAGE:
The Primate of the. Church of Nigeria,
Anglican Communion,
Plot 942, Ibrahim Waziri Crescent,
Gudu Discrict, Abuja-FCT.
Our Dear Father in the Lord,
RE-PETITION DATED 28TH MARCH 2026 FOR INVESTIGATION AND ACTION: AKURE DIOCESE ADMINISTRATIVE AND FINANCIAL CRISIS AND DEMAND FOR ACCOUNTABILITY FROM THE MOST REVD SIMEON OLUWOLE BOROKINI AND MRS CHRISTIANAH A. BOROKINI:
A REJOINDER TO DISSOCIATE MYSELF [CHIEF(ENGR) IOKA OJO] FROM THE SPUROUS PETITION BASED ON THE FOLLOWING:
a. I was not a party
ab initio to any of the various allegations stated in the said petition of 28th March 2026 against the Most Revd Simeon Oluwole Borokini.
b. I was first told of the summary of some administrative lapses in the Diocese by Chief (Mrs)S.K Kolawole on Sunday 29th March 2026 after the Church Service. I requested for a detailed information of the source of the information to enable me have an overview of the happenings.
Though she promised to do that, later she said that Chief S.O. Fasae, the Baba Ijo of All Saints’ (Ang) Church, Igbara-Oke would be reaching out to me. This pre-supposed that she must have been in constant contact with the Concerned Youth of the Diocese to my disadvantage.
c. True to her words, Chief S. O. Fasae called me on Sunday night that I should attend a joint meeting of all Diocesan Church Chiefs (male and female) to be held in Olori Chief(Mrs) R. O Falae’s house who is the Iya Ijo of the Cathedral Church, Ijomu, Akure on Tuesday 31st March 2026 by 10am with a view to resolving a rift between the Concerned Youth of Diocese and the Diocesan before it got out of hands as elders of the Akure Diocese of the Anglican Communion of Nigeria.
d. At the meeting and with constant reference to petition by Chief S.O Fasae, I observed that there must have been a prior meeting (s) of the Concerned Youth of the Diocese with some members present in the meeting of 31st March 2026, culminating in the issuance of the said petition dated on 28th March 2026 which had no relevance or bearing to meeting scheduled for 31st March 2026 as a way to resolve any rift as earlier portrayed to me by Chief S.O Fasae.
e.That but for my point of order raised to allow the aggrieved Diocesan Concerned Youth present their grievances, decision would have been taken on the said petition earlier written by privileged some and whose content against the Diocesan too was known by a privileged few. I insisted that the Concerned Youth of the Diocese be allowed to present their grievances for our contributions towards a meaningful resolution of the purported rift or disagreement
f. That the prepared paper as petition by the Concerned Youth of the Diocese was merely scanned through, not thoroughly read to the hearing of members present, let only allowed to be discussed.
Nowhere too was any minutes of the discussion nor acceptance on the various points raised at the meeting was taken. That can only mean that the purpose of the meeting was purportedly designed to gather support to give acceptability to the petition throughout the Diocese.
And upon the opportunity to have a copy of the petition, the names and signatures on the petition are predominately those of Cathedral congregants and not Church Chiefs as portrayed to me for a belief by Chief S.O Fasae.
h. On my part, at the meeting, I advised and suggested that the following issues be considered; viz:
i. That there would be the need to call the attention of the Diocesan Officer/Committee incharge of the Diocese Properties who should know an up-to-date status of the Diocese Properties in order to shed more light on some points on the parcel of land purportedly sold as raised in the petition.
ii. That the Diocesan Legal Advisers too be invited to up date our meeting as to the advice offered the Diocese on their findings, if any.
iii. That there may be the need to have a rescheduled meeting where items i & ii above would be discussed & if necessary to hear the Diocesan reaction through appropriate organ of the Diocese.
iv. That if all these were neglected undone when some members were talking of time factor, as if three and a half months for the Diocesan to retire were not more than enough to thrash such issues, then I cautioned that we may likely be guilty of our action to be taken in the end.
v. I further cautioned members present at the meeting of 31st March 2026 that we should be mindful of the environmental impact of our action on the reputation of the personality involved-the Diocesan, and the Akure Diocese of the Anglican Communion.I concluded that we should be weary of scandalous effects of any hasty decision.
vi. All my motions(i-v) above were seconded by Chief J. K Oluyide, the Baba Ijo of Epiphany (Ang) Church, Oke-Jebu Akure for discussion. However, this was set aside.
j. Having gone through the said petition in which I wrote my name in error (not my signature) as a member of the attendees, not a word of my advice nor those of others present was captioned in the petition, disappointedly. Therefore the petition was a pre-prepared paper merely tucked in to receive the blessings of those present at the meeting of 31st March 2026.
k. In any normal meeting to resolve any empasse or rift, issues discussed as core dispute should have a minute of such discussion at that meeting. No minutes, no agenda was prepared and the views of members present as contributions ought to reflect in the petition now presented as the position paper issued by the members present at the meeting.
What were considered in the petition were but issues that had been thrashed at the Synod levels for upwards of four to five years. Why bringing such out now as grievances by the Concerned Youth of the Diocese? Is the Church Chiefs’ Forum more superior than the Synod for any discussion on Diocese matters. No!
The purpose of the meeting of 31st March 2026 was to railroad members present at the meeting to agree to the petition written by the Concerned Youth as their grievances.
Therefore, in view of the above view points raised, the paper on which I was railroaded to write my name upon was never a part of the meeting because it was only scantily read and not discussed. It was prepared for the uninformed members to append their signature to give it a legitimacy.
And since my advice was not reflected in the petition as part of the point discussed nor was it considered too on the floor of the house, there was no way I could be a party to what I was opposed to, except I was hypnotised. And this is not expected in the body of Christ.
The guy who brought the paper to me upon my return from Oba Ilu-Abo, Oba Olu Falae merely showed me where to write my name, my Church’s name and the position held in the church and I did that innocently.
Consequently, I cannot be coerced to be a party to the petition earlier planned and executed without my involvement and attendance at their meetings only to be made to write my name under the guise of the list of attendance at the meeting.
I reaffirm here that since I was never a party to the content of the petition written on 28th March 2026, a work which must have taken not less than a month of active preparation, it will be sinful to make me a party to that which I knew nothing about.
Therefore, I vehemently hereby dissociate myself from the content of the said petition in all its entirety, my name (not my signature) on the petition, notwithstanding.
If I was not harmful to anybody when I was hustling around to make ends meet, what else do I need in life at 83years of age to destroy God’s temple?
Remember whoever destroys God’s temple will be destroyed. Anybody, not oneself only, is God’s temple which God forewarned not to be destroyed, lest God Himself will destroy the destroyer of His temple.
Thank you for taking the pains to read through my rejoinder.
Yours sincerely,
Signed
Chief(Engr) Ioka Ojo
Baba Ijo.
St. Luke’s (Ang) Church
Idi-Aagba Titun, Akure.
2nd April 2026
