Joshua Iginla Biography: Age, Spiritual Father, Wife, Church & Prophecy Story

Joshua Iginla (born May 21, 1969) is a Nigerian pastor, prophet, and televangelist from Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State. He is the founder and senior pastor of Champions Royal Assembly, a prophetic megachurch that fills an 80,000-seat auditorium in Kubwa, Abuja. Nigerians know him simply as “Papa,” a name earned through decades of public prophecy, healing crusades, and a personal testimony that started with him being disowned by his own Muslim family.

You’ve probably landed here chasing one specific detail, maybe his age, his new wife, or who actually shaped him as a prophet. This piece covers all of it, in order, with sources you can trust.

[IMAGE: Prophet Joshua Iginla preaching at Champions Royal Assembly, Abuja]

Joshua Iginla at a Glance

Personal
Full Name	Joshua Iginla
Also Known As	Brother Joshua, Prophet Joshua Iginla, “Papa”
Born	May 21, 1969, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria
Age	57 (as of 2026)
Nationality	Nigerian
Ethnicity	Yoruba
State of Origin	Ekiti State
Religion (Upbringing)	Born to a Muslim family; converted to Christianity
Current Wife	Stella Iginla (m. 2020)
First Wife	Yemisi Iginla (m. 2007, divorced 2019)
Children	Four, including Rhema
Father	Pa Lasisi Iginla
Ministry
Title	Founder and Senior Pastor
Church	Champions Royal Assembly, Kubwa, Abuja
Denomination	Pentecostal, Prophetic-Charismatic
Spiritual Father	Pastor David Yonggi Cho (d. 2021)
TV Ministry	Champions TV
Bible School	Champions Royal Bible College (President and Lead Lecturer)

Early Life and Background

Joshua Iginla was born on May 21, 1969, in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, in southwestern Nigeria. His father, Pa Lasisi Iginla, raised him in a Muslim household. Nothing about his childhood pointed toward a pulpit.

That changed when he started watching Christian neighbors walk to church on Sundays. He followed them out of curiosity, then out of conviction. He eventually accepted the Christian faith, a decision that cost him his standing at home. According to Iginla’s own account, his family treated him as an outcast once he converted. He has described living in genuine poverty during those early years, and said he never once considered turning back.

That single decision, made against his family’s wishes, is the hinge his whole ministry swings on. Every sermon about faith costing something traces back to that Sunday walk.

Ministry Beginnings: From OPEM to Abuja

Before Champions Royal Assembly existed, Iginla cut his teeth under the Evangelical Ministry (OPEM), preaching in villages and local schools around his home region. He later moved to Abuja, a decision he has compared publicly to Abraham leaving his father’s land, funded, he says, by nothing more than a borrowed transport fare.

Abuja did not roll out a welcome mat. Iginla started out as an assistant to Reverend Joseph Yusuf Haruna, working quietly while the city took no notice of him. While serving under Haruna, he says God began speaking to him about “raising a generation of champions,” a phrase that would later become his ministry’s catchphrase and, eventually, its name.

When he finally struck out on his own, the church began in an abandoned house. The seed money, according to Iginla, was ₦70,000, given to him by a mentor identified as Reverend Gbenga. From that abandoned house came Champions Royal Assembly, now headquartered at Plot 1133/1134 Chikakore, Byazhin-Kubwa, Abuja, inside an 80,000-seat auditorium that ranks among the largest church structures in Nigeria’s federal capital.

[IMAGE: Champions Royal Assembly 80,000-seat auditorium in Kubwa, Abuja]

Who Is Joshua Iginla’s Spiritual Father?

This is the single most searched question about Joshua Iginla, so here’s the direct answer: his spiritual father was Pastor David Yonggi Cho, the South Korean founder of Yoido Full Gospel Church, once the largest single congregation in the world.

Iginla identified Cho as his mentor and spiritual father from the earliest days of Champions Royal Assembly, and said publicly that he paid tithes directly to him. When Cho died in September 2021, Iginla wrote a public tribute calling him a selfless father who was “spiritually available” despite the distance, the tribe, and the country separating them. He described Cho as the man “who gave me wings to fly limitless.”

“Rest in the bosom of the Lord, my dear spiritual father, Pastor David Yonggi Cho.” — Joshua Iginla, tribute following Cho’s death, September 2021

It’s a relationship built entirely on Iginla’s public statements rather than a formal denominational tie, but it’s the one he’s referenced consistently for years, which makes it the most reliable answer available.

Rise to Prominence: The Prophecy Business

Iginla built his national profile the same way most Nigerian prophets do, through bold, public, dated predictions. Supporters point to a handful of moments that made his name travel.

He is credited by his followers with predicting the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa before the 2014 crisis hit headlines. He’s also cited for a 2014 New Year’s Eve service prediction naming Edgar Lungu as the surprise winner of Zambia’s next presidential election, a call that generated heavy skepticism at the time and became one of his signature “I told you so” moments once Lungu won.

His prophetic ministry hasn’t slowed with age. Heading into recent Zambian election cycles, Iginla has continued issuing year-ahead political prophecies through Champions TV and his ministry’s social channels, keeping his name in circulation across Nigeria, Zambia, and South Africa alike.

Whether you find prophetic prediction convincing or not, it’s the engine that built his following. It’s also worth saying plainly: predictions like these are impossible to verify independently, and Flicxa reports them as claims made by Iginla and his ministry, not as confirmed fact.

Personal Life: Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage

Joshua Iginla’s personal life has played out almost as publicly as his prophetic ministry, and it’s one of the most searched parts of his story.

First Marriage: Yemisi Iginla

Iginla married Yemisi in 2007. The marriage produced three children and lasted twelve years. In March 2019, Iginla stood before his own congregation and announced, in his own words, that the marriage was over. He cited infidelity on both sides and told his church he and Yemisi had each fathered or borne children outside the marriage.

Yemisi pushed back publicly. In a separate interview, she denied ever committing adultery and insisted all three of her children belonged to Iginla. She said a South African woman, later identified as Stella, had pressured her for years to “share” her husband, a request she refused. The couple’s divorce was finalized in 2020.

Second Marriage: Stella Iginla

Iginla’s current wife is Stella Zimasa Iginla, a South African prophetess he reportedly met while ministering in South Africa. The two are recognized as husband and wife from 2020 onward, though no public wedding ceremony has ever been documented. Stella and Iginla have a daughter together named Rhema, and reports at the time pointed to a second child on the way.

Today, Stella ministers alongside her husband. In 2025, the couple co-led a multi-day prophetic conference in Johannesburg through Champions International Ministry South Africa, drawing believers from across the country for what organizers called the “Harvest of Miracles.”

Iginla has four documented children in total, spanning both marriages.

[IMAGE: Prophet Joshua Iginla and Prophetess Stella Iginla ministering together]

Criticism and Controversies

Fairness means covering this part plainly, not glossing over it.

The 2019 adultery confession itself was the biggest controversy of Iginla’s public life. A pastor telling thousands of congregants, on record, that he and his wife had both been unfaithful is not a small moment, and it drew sharp criticism and mockery across Nigerian media and social platforms.

In 2019, Iginla also drew attention for acquiring a private jet, which he unveiled during his birthday celebrations that year. Vanguard reported the purchase and noted his camp’s justification: a packed international preaching schedule that made commercial travel impractical. Critics saw it as one more example of prosperity-gospel excess; supporters saw it as a tool for ministry reach.

In 2021, Iginla became a vocal defender of the late TB Joshua after Pastor Chris Okotie publicly criticized the SCOAN founder following his death. Iginla called Okotie’s remarks a “disgrace,” defended TB Joshua as a personal friend, and told Okotie to “face me” directly. The exchange put Iginla at the center of one of Nigerian Christendom’s more public pastor-to-pastor feuds that year.

Sermons and Public Ministry

Iginla’s sermons run through Champions TV, his ministry’s dedicated broadcast arm, and across YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok, where clips of his prophetic declarations and “spiritual father” teachings circulate widely. Recurring themes in his preaching include deliverance, financial breakthrough, and what he calls raising “end-time financial apostles,” a phrase now baked into his ministry’s tagline.

He also leads the Champions Royal Bible College, where he serves as President and Lead Lecturer, training the next wave of ministers who pass through Champions Royal Assembly.

Interesting Facts

Iginla was raised in a Muslim household and converted to Christianity as a young man, against his family’s wishes.
He started his church in an abandoned house with a ₦70,000 seed gift from a mentor.
His congregants call him “Papa” for his philanthropic reputation, not as a formal church title.
He identified South Korean pastor David Yonggi Cho, founder of the world’s largest single congregation, as his spiritual father.
His church auditorium in Kubwa seats 80,000 people, making it one of the largest in Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory.

Timeline of Key Events

May 21, 1969 — Born in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, to a Muslim family.
Early ministry years — Serves under the Evangelical Ministry (OPEM), preaching in villages and schools.
Relocation — Moves to Abuja, serving as assistant to Reverend Joseph Yusuf Haruna.
Founding — Launches Champions Royal Assembly in an abandoned house with ₦70,000 in seed funding.
2007 — Marries Yemisi.
2014 — Publicly predicts Edgar Lungu’s Zambian election win and, according to his ministry, the Ebola outbreak.
March 2019 — Publicly confesses to marital infidelity before his congregation and announces the end of his marriage to Yemisi.
May 2019 — Acquires a private jet, reported by Vanguard.
2020 — Finalizes divorce from Yemisi; marries Stella Zimasa.
September 2021 — Mourns the death of his spiritual father, David Yonggi Cho, with a public tribute.
2021 — Publicly defends the late TB Joshua against criticism from Pastor Chris Okotie.
2025 — Co-leads a multi-day prophetic conference in Johannesburg with Stella Iginla.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Joshua Iginla’s spiritual father?

His spiritual father was Pastor David Yonggi Cho, the South Korean founder of Yoido Full Gospel Church. Iginla called him his mentor from the start of his ministry and paid tribute to him publicly after Cho’s death in 2021.

Which state is Joshua Iginla from?

He is from Ekiti State, Nigeria. He was born in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, and is Yoruba by tribe.

Who is Joshua Iginla’s wife?

His current wife is Stella Iginla, a South African prophetess he married in 2020. His first wife, Yemisi, whom he married in 2007, divorced him in 2020 following a public 2019 infidelity confession.

How old is Joshua Iginla?

Joshua Iginla was born on May 21, 1969, which makes him 57 years old as of 2026.

What church does Joshua Iginla lead?

He founded and leads Champions Royal Assembly, a prophetic megachurch headquartered in Kubwa, Abuja, with an auditorium that seats 80,000 people.

How many children does Joshua Iginla have?

He has four children across both marriages, including a daughter named Rhema with his current wife, Stella.

Is Joshua Iginla related to TB Joshua?

No. Joshua Iginla and the late TB Joshua of the Synagogue, Church of All Nations, are two different Nigerian ministers who share no blood or marital relation, only a shared first name. They were reportedly close friends, and Iginla publicly defended TB Joshua’s legacy after his 2021 death. TB Joshua’s wife was Evelyn Joshua, not related to Iginla’s family.

References

Joshua Iginla. Wikipedia. Retrieved September 16, 2026.

Biography Of Prophet Joshua Iginla. Believers Portal. Retrieved September 16, 2026.

Prophet Joshua Iginla Biography and Family. BuzzNigeria. Retrieved September 16, 2026.

Joshua Iginla Biography, Age, Wife, Children, Ministry Net Worth. ThrillNG. Retrieved September 16, 2026.

Prophet Iginla Mourns His Spiritual Father, Yonggi Cho. Sahara Weekly. Retrieved September 16, 2026.

Picture of Stella Iginla, the South African prophetess wife of Pastor Joshua Iginla & Yemisi Iginla denied committing adultery. Peachish Blog. Retrieved September 16, 2026.

Meet Stella Iginla, Joshua Iginla’s South African prophetess wife. Laila’s News. Retrieved September 16, 2026.

Joshua Iginla acquires multi-billion naira private jet during birthday celebration. Vanguard. Retrieved September 16, 2026.

TB Joshua: Prophet Iginla attacks Chris Okotie, others over comments. Daily Post. Retrieved September 16, 2026.

Joshua Iginla lambasts Chris Okotie for criticising TB Joshua. TheCable Lifestyle. Retrieved September 16, 2026.

Miracles Answer to His Voice: Prophet Joshua Iginla Leaves South Africa. EaglesPath. Retrieved September 16, 2026.

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