The President of the Christian Association of
Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, on Monday,
said he knew nothing about the controversial
$9.3m smuggled into South Africa by two
Nigerians and an Israeli, using his private
jet.
Oritsejafor broke his silence during the
National Executive Council meeting of CAN
at the National Christian Centre, Abuja.
The CAN leader regretted that there had
been attempts in the media to link him with
the incident by mischievous elements,
adding that he had kept quiet all the while
because he needed to explain his position to
the church, which he said, was his primary
constituency.
Oritsejafor, in his address, a copy which was
emailed to our correspondent in Kaduna,
declared that he was never a party to the
movement of the $9.3m from Nigeria to
South Africa to purchase arms and
ammunition.
He said, “I wish to assure you that I will not
do anything to tarnish the image of Jesus
Christ or compromise the divine standard of
the church.
“As you are all aware, the media has been
awash in the past few days with an
unfortunate incident involving the movement
of funds from Nigeria to South Africa. In the
unfortunate news reports, attempts have
been made to link me directly with the
transaction.
“So far, I have refrained from making any
direct public response pending the time that
I would have briefed the leaders of the
church and explained my position on the
issues to them.
“I believe that the primary institution that I
owe any explanation to is the church.”
Oritsejafor added, “At the risk of being seen
to be defending myself, I wish to confirm to
the distinguished leaders of the church that
the Bombardier Challenger 601 aircraft in
question is mine. The aircraft was presented
to me as a gift by members of our
congregation and ministry partners
worldwide at my 40th anniversary of my call
into the ministry.
“May I be permitted to stress that the
aircraft was not given to me by the
President of Nigeria, neither was it a
settlement for any political favour or
patronage.
“With the benefit of hindsight, the President
of the country was a guest in our church
during the anniversary celebration when the
jet was presented to me. This has construed
an implication that it was a gift from the
President of the country.”
The CAN leader explained further that “the
President of Nigeria has nothing to do with
the gift of the aircraft. By the way, I still
wonder why all those saying this cannot
come out to show proof so that the matter
can be put to rest once and for all. Let me
say that this might be an issue of the court
in the near future.”
Oritsejafor, who also explained the
circumstances that led to the involvement of
his aircraft, said, “In order to ameliorate the
cost of maintenance of the aircraft, I sought
and got permit to allow the aircraft fly in
and out of Nigeria.
“Based on this, I leased the aircraft on
August 2, 2014, to a company to run it. It
was the leasee that entered into an
agreement with the people who carried out
the transfer of funds. Having leased the
aircraft to the Green Coast Produce
Company Limited, any transaction
undertaken with the aircraft can no longer be
attached to me.
“Inasmuch as I am shocked and distressed
by the incident, I wish to appeal to
Christians in Nigeria to remember that a
war has been waged against the Nigerian
church. This war is being fought on many
fronts and this unfortunate incident is
another dimension in the assault against the
church.
“It is clear that those who manipulated this
conspiracy desire t o create a schism in the
church.”
http://www.punchng.com/news/9-3m-scandal-i-have-no-hands-in-the-deal-oritsejafor/

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