{"id":96813,"date":"2025-12-24T10:30:27","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T10:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=96813"},"modified":"2025-12-24T10:30:27","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T10:30:27","slug":"senior-cleric-matthew-ashimolowo-faces-backlash-over-role-in-pastor-chris-okafors-controversial-wedding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=96813","title":{"rendered":"Senior Cleric Matthew Ashimolowo faces backlash over role in Pastor Chris Okafor\u2019s controversial wedding"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Controversy continues to swirl around the December wedding of Pastor Chris Okafor after veteran Nigerian pastor Matthew Ashimolowo came under sharp criticism for officiating the ceremony amid unresolved public allegations surrounding the groom\u2019s personal life.<\/p>\n<p>Pastor Kesiena Esiri, among others, has openly challenged the decision of Pastor Ashimolowo \u2014 who is widely respected within Nigerian and international Christian circles \u2014 to preside over the union without first addressing what Esiri and his supporters describe as serious moral questions. In a viral online video and social media posts, Esiri said it was \u201ctroubling\u201d that a senior cleric would endorse the wedding of someone allegedly involved in unresolved personal scandals without public accountability.<\/p>\n<p>Esiri pointed to rumours and allegations circulating within church networks about Okafor\u2019s past conduct, including claims of a prior divorce and abandonment of his former spouse and four children \u2014 matters he said should have been dealt with before celebrating the wedding. He warned that religious leaders risk sending the wrong message to congregants when they appear to prioritise influence or reputation over integrity and biblical standards.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Rev. Kesiena Esiri calls out Matthew Ashimolowo for joining Pastor Chris Okafor and his wife <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/4EHnloCDkk\">pic.twitter.com\/4EHnloCDkk<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Naija Trend (@NaijaTrend_1) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NaijaTrend_1\/status\/2003526841643270301?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 23, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>This criticism has intensified against the backdrop of a high-profile dispute involving actress Doris Ogala, who had publicly accused Okafor of betrayal after a long-term personal relationship and alleged broken promises of marriage. Her outcry, which included legal action seeking damages, went viral and sparked nationwide debate before she was arrested \u2014 and subsequently released \u2014 earlier this week.<\/p>\n<p>Ogala\u2019s arrest, reportedly linked to posts she made about the cleric online, drew intervention from social activists including Omoyele Sowore and influencer VeryDarkMan, who pushed for her release and criticised the handling of her detention.<\/p>\n<p>In response to the criticism, Pastor Chris Okafor used his wedding thanksgiving service to address detractors, describing the backlash as spiritual opposition and affirming his commitment to explain his story in due course. He thanked supporters and pledged to continue his ministry, indicating that \u201cthe devil had become angry\u201d at the reception they shared of the ceremony.<\/p>\n<p>Reactions online have been mixed, with some netizens echoing concerns about accountability among religious leaders and others defending the autonomy of personal decisions within ministry life. The debate highlights ongoing tensions in Nigeria\u2019s religious landscape over leadership standards, reputational risk, and the influence of social media on public perception.<\/p>\n<p>Social media users expressed disbelief that the wedding went ahead despite ongoing allegations by actress Doris Ogala, who publicly accused Pastor Okafor of ending a long-term relationship with her and later marrying someone else. Critics on X (formerly Twitter) reacted strongly to the wedding photos:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo she went ahead to marry this man after all the red flags\u2026\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cNobody in the comment section is tapping.\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cThis man has no moral ground to tell his members not to fornicate before marriage.\u201d \u2014 one commenter said.<\/p>\n<p>Others criticised the apparent lack of accountability, warning that the pastor\u2019s actions could be repeated in future relationships.<\/p>\n<p>Conversely, some commenters offered support to the couple:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCongrats to the newlyweds!\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cMay this marriage be blessed despite the noise online.\u201d<br \/>\n\u2014 Comments from Instagram and Facebook<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Controversy continues to swirl around the December wedding of Pastor Chris Okafor after veteran Nigerian pastor Matthew Ashimolowo came under sharp criticism for officiating the ceremony amid unresolved public allegations surrounding the groom\u2019s personal life. Pastor Kesiena Esiri, among others, has openly challenged the decision of Pastor Ashimolowo \u2014 who is widely respected within Nigerian [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":96815,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5775,5772],"tags":[7751,7752,627,7753,7750],"class_list":["post-96813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","category-faith","tag-ashimolowo","tag-kesiena","tag-marriage","tag-ogala","tag-okafor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=96813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96813\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/96815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=96813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=96813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=96813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}