The world shuddered with great
disbelief when Nigerian government
tried frantically, albeit unsuccessfully, to
defend the allegations of money
laundering, terror financing and armed
smuggling arising from the impounded
9.3 million dollars cash smuggled to
South Africa via a private jet belonging
to the President Goodluck Jonathan’s
personal friend and unapologetic ally,
Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, the President of
the Christian Association of Nigeria,
CAN.

South Africa said the amount is above
the limit of cash allowed into the
country. The scandal was so big and
very indefensible that the South African
authorities found the Nigerian
government’s explanation untenable and
unacceptable.

On the basis of this, lawyers Femi
Falana and Festus Kiyamo, Professor
Ishaq Akintola of Muslim Rights
Concern, Dr Olapade Agoro (Founder
Aladura Christians Communion) and
millions of Nigerians who have suffered
trauma, loss of business, family
members, the Chibok girls
proclaimed: #Oritsejaforhasacasetoansw

While Pastor Olapade Agoro queried the
rationale for Oritsejafor’s action,
Otunba Dino Melaye posited that
Oritsejafor should be arrested and
investigated.

It would be recalled that the Catholic
Church pulled out of the Oritsejafor-led
Christian Association of Nigeria because
of the way he runs the Association,
citing politicization and his attitudes,
unbefitting of a clergy of his status. It
accused Oritsejafor of fast turning an
erstwhile, most revered association of
Christians in Nigeria to a moribund one,
converting a supposedly non-partisan
religious body to a political platform.
Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie, one of the
founders of CAN who ruled the
organisation for eight years, declared:
Oritsejafor is finished, can is damaged!
He said ‘’Oritsejafor is making a
mockery of the association by his
closeness to President Goodluck
Jonathan and the ruling Peoples
Democratic Party, describing him as
“fallen from grace to grass”,
Cardinal Okogie said Mr Oritsejafor’s
has also lost grip of the leadership of
CAN, adding that his Oritsejafor
“unrighteous” quest to remain in power
and his “romance” with politicians have
finished him and derailed the once
respected Christian body from the lofty
dreams of its founding fathers.

Many NGOs, including the Centre for
Global Peace Initiative (CGPI) called for
plausible explanation just as many
rights organisations and Muslim groups,
particularly Muslim Rights Concern,
MURIC and MPAC Nigeria demanded
for an independent investigation.
This was followed by a Press Conference
held on Tuesday 23 September, 2014 by
the Conference of Islamic Organisations
(CIO) in Lagos.

In attendance were Sheikh
Abdurrahman Ahmad, National
Missioner/Chief Imam of Ansar Ud Deen
Society of Nigeria, Prof. Is-haq Akintola,
Director MURIC, Sheikh Abdurrahman
Adangba, Chief Missioner of Fathiu
Quareeb Society of Nigeria, Sheikh
Ishaq Adebayo Tejdini, Chief Imam/
Missioner of Rahmat Islamiyyah Society
of Nigeria, Mallam Qasim Badrudeen,
Immediate past Amir, MSSN Lagos
Area Unit, Sheikh Muhammad Olatunji,
Amir of Zumratu Rashideen,
Abdulwahab Adetunji of The Muslim
Congress and Imam Abdullahi Shuaib,
the Coordinator of CIO among others.

The gravity of the issue could not but
polarise the Nigerian MPs as the
opposition members of the House of
Representatives staged a walk-out when
the House presided over by its Deputy
Speaker, Ike Ekperemadu attempted to
sweep the matter under the carpet by
referring it to a committee rather than
allow it to be discussed at the plenary.
The members, mostly of the All
Progressive Congress resorted to calling
on Nigerians to take their faith into
their hands after they were arm-twisted
by the majority in the House.

Among those who found the act
despicable is a human rights activist and
Lagos-based lawyer, Festus Keyamo.
Keyamo picked holes in the position of
the Federal Government regarding the
matter. The government’s spokesman,
Rueben Abati said the seized money
belonged to the Nigerian Government,
and a huge sum is meant to buy
weapons for the soldiers fighting
insurgency. But Keyamo described the
defence as not only ludicrous, but also
laughable, asking why the Nigerian
government would seek to smuggle cash
into the country without disclosure if it
were indeed, for a legitimate
transaction?

Keyamo wondered why a government
which claimed to be at the forefront of
cashless policy campaign would launder
such large sum of money by cash out of
the country. He also found the
government’s explanation to have
resorted to purchasing weapon from
South Africa because of procedural
bottlenecks in the purchase of such
items from Western countries,
concluding the story is only fit to be told
to the marines.

The Lagos based lawyer queried; if
indeed the transaction was a legitimate
one, why was the money moved by a
private jet and by private individuals
and why were they not accompanied by
the officials of the Department of State
Services or the office of the National
Security Adviser in official capacities?

He also asked to know whether it is
really faster and safer to do an
international transaction of such
magnitude by ferrying cash across the
continent or by a simple wire transfer
that can go through in a matter of few
minutes or few hours

In Keyamo’s words, If contrary to the
above posers, the transaction was
contracted out to a private company in
Nigeria, does it not amount to the
offence of Money Laundering under our
laws for the Government that is at the
fore front of cashless policy campaign to
have allowed such company to attempt
to pay for the equipment by cash to the
tune of that amount without passing
through a financial institution?

From the way the entire scenario is
wrapped in secrecy, globally,
transactions that are done in a huge
volume can only be illegal dealing for an
illegal purpose that is meant to be
untraceable.

He surmised that to an average Nigeria,
the operation is a covert and illegal one
that went horribly wrong and that the
Government’s position and explanation
is a cock-and-bull story meant to be
shoved down the throat of undiscerning
Nigerians.

Keyamo further concluded that what the
explanation succeeded in doing is to
rather buttress the fact that billions of
Nigerian monies that could be used to
develop the nation are being smuggled
out of the country on a regular basis
with the connivance of the security
agencies and under the auspices of the
presidency.

To me, this can only justify the
allegation of the former Governor of the
Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido
Sanusi of huge corruption in high
offices. It would be remembered that
the issue that saw the pre-mature exit of
the Governor was the same that brought
in pro-ATM Godwin Emefiele and still
sustaining the Minister of Petroleum,
Allison Madueke in office. If not, which
financial institution would have
arranged 9.3 million dollars cash of new
notes?

One plausible thing a responsible
government would do in this
circumstance is to own up, set up an
independent investigative panel of men
of repute, name the two faceless
Nigerians involved in the transaction,
and apologise to the nation rather than
vain-gloriously papering over
irreparable cracks. If the president does
not disown Oritsejafor, the fear is that
mere setting up of an inquiry will not
suffice, it may only go the way of Stella
Odua’s case, petroleum subsidy fraud
and pension scam amongst many others.

An attempt to save a drowning clergy at
the expense of national pride and
reputation is rather too costly.
Anything to the contrary will simply lend
credence to the Australian negotiator’s
indictment of, and the Northern Elders’
allegation of genocide against the
former Chief of Army Staff, Lt General
Azubuike Ihejirika, the involvement of
former Governor of Borno State,
Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as well as the
culpability of Ayo Oritsejafor and the
complicity of the Nigerian Government
in the money laundering, terror
financing and armed smuggling
allegations.

In this vein, a little comparison of
governance in Nigeria with South Africa
is apposite for a feel of how low we
have gone as a nation. According to a
report:
‘’The South Africa Revenue Service
(SARS) seized the money initially
because it was not disclosed at customs,
said Nathi Mncube, the National
Prosecuting Authority (NPA)
spokesperson. Two black plastic
suitcases, filled with 90 blocks each
containing US$100,000 in notes, with
combination locks, were seized, as well
as two pieces of hand luggage also
containing US currency.
‘’Eyal Mesika, of the Isreali security
company had the combination to open
the locks. Investigations by South
African authorities uncovered an invoice
from Tier One Services, a subsidiary of
the Tier One Services Group Limited, to
Cyprus-based company ESD
International Group Ltd.
‘’A statement on the company’s website
states that Tier One Services Group
“provides aviation, logistics, security,
risk management support and
specialised training services to
organisations and individuals operating
in austere and challenging
environments.” Its offices are spread
across the Middle East and Africa.
‘’The invoice from Tier One to ESD was
for armaments and helicopters,
according to Mr. Mncube. “In court
papers, the NPA submitted evidence
that Tier One is not registered with the
National Conventional Arms Control
Committee and is thus not authorised to
enter into any agreements regarding the
sale and/or rental of military
equipment.”
‘’The agreement between Tier One and
ESD was concluded on September 8,
according to a South African press,
three days AFTER the money was seized
at Lanseria. Last Friday, a North
Gauteng High Court granted the NPA’s
asset forfeiture unit an order for the
freezing of the cash.
“The NPA submitted to the court that,
although various explanations about the
money were given to the investigating
officer, these explanations were flawed
and riddled with discrepancies,” Mr.
Mncube said.

My sincere advice for our president is
that no matter how long he stays in
office, he would one day leave the stage
and join the likes of Shehu Shagari,
Ibrahim Babangida and Olusegun
Obasanjo. He should know that no
matter how secretive the affairs of
governance are pursued, some would be
privileged to know about them, and they
will definitely be part of writing the
history of this administration.

Our President should know that
Nigerians today have become more
sensitive. The old story that Boko Haram
exists because Northerners do not want
Jonathan is no longer credible. Or how
could they be killing themselves,
slaughtering their sons and raping their
own daughters without throwing a
single bomb outside their enclave just
because they don’t want Jonathan to
rule?

We now know that there are more than
one Shekaus. The old teevee picture of
Shekau is different from the new one
and it is now clear that most of the
Shekaus threats shown on teevee were
stage-managed. We still remember
vividly that the head of security
operatives have consistently said they
know where the Chibok girls are and
they would soon be released.

In fact, MPAC Nigeria posited that the
whole exercise is a conspiracy against
the Muslims judging from Jonathan’s
undisguised hatred for Islam and the
North (remember the Confab
composition) and Oritsejafor’s
belligerent disposition towards his
Muslim neighbors.

Some are already insinuating that
President Jonathan and the CAN
President are both planning for
ethnoreligious war and financing Boko
Haram against the Nigerian army. Some
submitted that the weapons were
actually meant for Boko Haram,
revealing the answer to who the
sponsors of Boko Haram are. Others
simply deduced that the weapons are
meant for the kinsmen of both Jonathan
and Oritsejafor- the Niger Delta
militants to prosecute the likely
conflagration that could ensue, in case
the North gangs up to deny Jonathan
Presidency come 2015 and /or if the
South-South region eventually decides
to secede.

Nigerians have not forgotten how the
Chibok Girls abduction was tactically
and strategically managed or is it
mismanaged to prevent early rescue of
the girls and how our military was made
to look helpless in the face of Boko
Haram’s onslaught. Nigerians still
remember the allegation of Amnesty
International which reported that the
Nigerian military unbelievably refused
to act to prevent the Chibok abduction
despite the fact that they received
intelligence report of the abduction four
hours before the militants arrived.

Information emerging after the
President seemed to have secured the
ticket to run again as President in 2015,
are indicating that the North East will
more likely now have relief from Boko
Haram attacks.

The recent news has it that the Chibok
girls would soon be released; Shekau
likely to be dead again and some
insurgents are surrendering and turning
in their weapons with promise of
rehabilitation and reintegration into the
society.

It is also being insinuated that if none of
the Northern Governors decamps to the
opposition and no PDP politician of
Northern extraction comes out to reject
the adoption of Jonathan as the sole
presidential candidate, the North will be
spared of the antics of Jonathan and his
kinsmen, including CAN president
Oritsejafor.

Nigerians of all religions should
therefore continue to pray fervently for
one indivisible nation and beg the
Almighty that all the enemies of this
great country from within and without
be destroyed before 2015 just as
Pharaoh was destroyed in Egypt.

The South African government and its
enforcement authorities should
therefore continue to stand with
humanity, honesty and for peace until
investigations are concluded to establish
the innocence or otherwise of
Oritsejafor since it appears justice can
only be expected from South Africa.
With a national disgrace brought by this
seizure on South African soil on the
illegally chartered private jet belonging
to the foremost leader of CAN whose
speeches on the insurgency have
favoured escalation of the crisis, this
whole scenario is more than meet the
eye.

Nigerians are watching; Time will tell!
Yinka Salaam


saharareporters.com/2014/09/29/tale-two-presidents-and-flurry-reactions-yinka-salaam

What a long article...

But Oritsejafor must be prosecuted

barcanista: What a long article...

But Oritsejafor must be prosecuted

Long indeed, but the article is really captivating so I took my time to read and open a thread with it.

Long indeed but full of fact. Gej tenure is d most corupt tenure in terms of money looting nd laundering in history of nigeria. Gej tenure in terms of lagos ibadan exp way and rail way terminal rehabilitation is d tenure with good infrastructural development. But he stil nid 2 face the trials including that man ayo using gold as if hez relatd 2 rick ross. Mtchw dnt quote me o

Pastor blingbling under the president protection, thinking no one can touch him, despite the clear evidence on ground!
I pity this country and pity the valiant men that fought for Nigeria's independent.
This administration is the worst thing to happen to this country, you can be a criminal, thief and all the bad thing one can think of and still walk free, so far you belong to that God forsaken clique.
Just one word for you all if who think you're untouchable, the sweat and blood of those that make this country to be, will surely ask you.
Orisetjafor is a disgrace to Christianity and should have been sacked as the president!