Ayo Oritsejafor, CAN's President opens up on $9.3m arms deal

President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, yesterday for the first time spoke on the controversial $9.3m cash allegedly smuggled into South Africa by two Nigerians and an Israeli using his private jet. The money which has been confiscated by a South African court was meant for the purchase of arms for the Nigerian Intelligence Services.  This is just as the #BringBackOurGirls# campaign group, has said it will soon drag the CAN president and the Federal Government to court over the money.

Following the use of his aircraft to convey the money which was not declared in South Africa until immigration officials discovered it, the CAN president was linked to the arms deal with critics condemning his role in the arms deal

Explaining his own side of the story yesterday, at an emergency meeting of the expanded  National Executive Council, NEC, of CAN in Abuja, Pastor Oritsejafor denied any involvement or knowledge of the deal to buy arms in South Africa, noting that enemies of Christians were fuelling the division of CAN.

He said: “The media has been awash in the past few days about 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 statement 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. Permit me to thank everyone who stood by me these past days by ways of prayers, as well as strongly defending  me even though I have not undertaken any public defence of myself.

“I am particularly appreciative of the valuable support of the Catholic Church in refuting a distorted news item by mischievous elements in the media. 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.

The aircraft is mine — CAN president

“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 world wide at the 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 and this has been construed to imply that it was a gift from the President of the country.

“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, still 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.

“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.

War against the Church

“In as much 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 to create a schism in the Church. The media hype and the deliberate distortion of information that followed it confirmed that forces that desperately desire to cause division and disunity in the Church are at work. Even the devil knows that a house that is divided cannot stand.

“As Christians, we need unity in the Church now more than ever. We are witnessing inhuman attacks by religious extremists against Christians in the northern part of the country while Christian infrastructure is being destroyed in hundreds.

“If we permit the enemy to divide us, our chances of corporate survival shall be severely threatened.

“Distinguished leaders of the Church, please permit me to state clearly before God and before all of you here present today, I am not a party to the movement of $9.3 million from Nigeria to South Africa to purchase arms and ammunition. I am not part of the deal. I know nothing about it.

“Let me make a passionate appeal to our heads of blocks, heads of denominations and Christian leaders at different levels and spheres of influence to please use your good offices to caution and control your subordinates and followers from making public statements that will further polarise the Church and strengthen the arms of the enemies of the church.

“If I offend you or you offend me, instead of talking to media, let us talk to each other within the house of God.”

 #BringBackOurGirls# threatens to sue

Meanwhile, the #BringBackOurGirls# campaign group, at its sit-out, yesterday, in Abuja called for more public outcry over the $9.3 million cash found in Pastor Oritsejafor’s private jet in South Africa, saying it has concluded arrangement to sue the CAN president and the Federal Government over it.

According to the group: “We need more pressure more than ever; this is tax payers money, we must speak up any time an injustice is done especially when it is about infiltration of arms because that is what brought us here. There is need for a louder cry about this because quietly people are forgetting about the $9.3 million, it will continue if we don’t do anything.

“By next week you will have something different, we are working with our lawyers to sue Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor and the Federal Government.”

Also, the House of Representatives Committee on Rules and Business has said that the Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Lai Mohammed must have acted out of ignorance for saying that the Deputy Speaker, Emeka Ihedioha was biased in his ruling over the controversial $9.3million arms deal motion.

Briefing House of Representatives correspondents at the weekend, chairman of the committee,  Albert Sam-Tsokwa said “it is glaring that the APC publicity secretary was not conversant with our House rules when he said the Deputy Speaker manipulated the proceedings on the motion bordering on the $9.3m arms deal in South Africa.

“The DS acted as a patriotic Nigerian as he considered the interest of Nigerians above any political lineage following our House standing Orders to the letter.

“The motion in question was an investigative one seeking investigation into the alleged arms deal in South Africa which does not need any debate as this might jeopardise the proposed investigation”.

Vanguard recalls that in the wake of the arms deal, the matter came up in the form of a motion on the floor of the House last Tuesday, but Ihedioha, who presided over plenary that day, did not allow debate on the motion, citing ‘national security.’ He later called for a voice vote and majority of the lawmakers voted against it.

This development did not go down well with some lawmakers, most of whom are of the opposition All Progressives Congress ,APC, who staged a walk out from the floor immediately Ihedioha ruled.

The motion, sponsored by Deputy Minority Leader Abdulrahman Kawu Sulaiman,APC, Kano sought for a thorough investigation into the matter.

But Tsokwa argued at the briefing that what Ihedioha did was in line with the relevant rules of the House, which do not allow debate on matters relating to infrastructure, security and investigation.

He explained that “the House is precluded from discussing any issue that is pending in court. Our rules also say motions on infrastructure, security and investigation are not to be debated. The motion on $9.3 million seeks an investigation, so it shouldn’t, couldn’t and mustn’t have been debated. That was exactly what happened,” Tsokwa said.

Tsokwa further stressed that “the mover wasn’t supposed to take it that day, because it wasn’t on the Order Paper. He insisted on taking it because he said he was away on the Speaker’s errand. But any matter that is not on the Notice Paper can’t be included on the Order Paper. Some members were against taking the motion, but the Deputy Speaker allowed him.”

The Taraba state lawmaker explained that going by parliamentary rules, if any member is not satisfied with a particular decision taken, such a member would call for the House to be divided based on the ‘ayes’ and the ‘nays,’ saying walking out was not appropriate.

“The decision wasn’t taken on the basis of party. It wasn’t all APC members that voted against it and vice-versa”, he said.

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Cardinal Okogie calls out to Ayo Oritsejafor, says CAN has no leader

In an explosive interview with Sahara Reporters, Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie, the first President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, and former Archbishop of Lagos, shared his thoughts on the current leadership of CAN. He said the Christian body has no leadership and that Pres. Jonathan and Pastor Oritsejafor deserve to be sued over the recent $9.3m South African arms deal scandal. He also said the President Jonathan doesn't deserve a second term. Excerpts from his interview below...

    "We have to be praying for this kind of people, for them to have a change of heart. What are they looking for with jet? Another one said, “Jesus said go into the whole world and evangelize, so how can I go into the whole world, with what? I need a plane to be able to go to the whole world.” Even the devil can quote scripture. But did Jesus Christ say you should go and steal to go and buy plane? But now they are claiming that they were given the jets as gifts. But why can’t they spend that money on the poor? There are many Nigerians who are begging that they have nothing to eat, and yet you say you’re preaching. Preaching for what? Are there no pastors where they are going? May God not punish us according to our sins.


Do you think the government should consider negotiating with Boko Haram?
My own opinion is this: When you talk of Boko Haram, who are they? How can you say you are going to negotiate with a nebulous group? They have not declared their identity. Are you going to be talking to the air? The people you want to negotiate with, who are they? Have they even given you their own terms? You can’t know or see them because they are nebulous people.

And if you’re bold enough they will come and kill you. And you yourself, you need to know what you are negotiating for? Did you offend them? You are just sitting down and somebody tells you to quit. Look at all the innocent people they have killed, and taken innocent people (Chibok girls) hostage, and there is supposed to be a governor in that place. What was the governor doing, if he has no hand in it? If I were the Head of State, he would be the first person I would arrest.
Where do they (Boko Haram) get their arms from? How did they enter? There are many questions to be answered. And then you are now talking of negotiation. For what? What if they say for negotiation the Head of State should quit? Will he be ready to quit? Or what if they say government should give them so and so people in exchange for the Chibok girls, what kind of negotiation is that? To me, I don’t buy it at all.
Do you think the current leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) is actually acting like an arm of the federal government or an appendage of the PDP as some critics say?
My brother, I must tell you this; CAN leadership today is zero. CAN has no leader. Thank God you are talking to one of the founders of CAN, and I was there as their leader for eight years. Then, the whole country knew that CAN had a leader, not by my own might, but by God. Because what we were doing then, we had only one voice. But the problem we have now is that people are struggling for power in unrighteous way.
And because he is struggling for power, he can do little or nothing. Power doesn’t come like that. Look at David in the Scriptures. Look at Solomon. Even look at Herbert Macaulay and other early nationalists. You don’t force yourself to power. This is what is happening. Somebody is telling you that if you don’t allow him to rule, you will not rule well. So the person struggling for power is not going to do better. Now, election is coming in 2015 and some people are already saying they must be there. They will not allow the electorate to decide.
They are ready with their moneybags. Where did they get the money from? Where did they get the $9.3m that has been seized by South Africa from? They said it was to buy arms. We have to be very careful in this nation. What is the man (Oritsejafor) looking for? If you call yourself a man of God, then you should rely on God. Why should he be jumping up and down? But because he was not elected, not chosen by God, that is what is happening. Today, he wants to build a university, tomorrow he wants to be something else, next tomorrow he wants to be like other people.
Then why is he there as CAN president? In our day and time, election was done by the groups and we know how we go about it. I think I ruled for two terms, eight years. If there was any trouble anywhere in the country, they would come to the centre. And it wouldn’t take time. We would just come to the centre and solve it and I will speak out and the whole nation would listen. Sometimes, you would hear people say, “Has Okogie spoken?” “What did Okogie say?” There was unity, because that’s what we are looking for.
And we didn’t buy the position. But this time around, because they are rushing to be in power, nobody obeys them. And look at how they are making mockery of themselves and making mockery of “religion”. Is that religion? Today, they are with the federal government. We saw the writing on the wall when we left. The very first person that took over started romancing with Obasanjo. Then one or two CAN presidents tried their best before it got to this present CAN president, Oritsejafor. This is not right. Look at how Oritsejafor has fallen, from grace to grass.
And he is not going down alone, he is also staining the name of the Head of State. Of course, why not? If you eat with those with dirty hands, then you must be dirty. And this is the man that they are saying should come and rule the nation for a second term. They think people are stupid. They have not even answered about this $9.3m, and when the matter got to the House of Reps, they said they should throw it out. Can you imagine? Are they not the ones making laws on money laundering? And this is a case of real money laundering. These are lawmakers.
And they say throw it out, we will not entertain any discussion on this $9.3m matter. Can you imagine! You can imagine that these are the kind of people we have in the National Assembly. And then of course, the relationship between Nigeria and South Africa is strained. Look at the T.B. Joshua building collapse affair, and they think all South Africans are stupid. Just watch and see what comes out of these two affairs. These are bad signs. Tomorrow now, they will say Nigeria is the giant of Africa and the economy of Nigeria is booming, with mouth. The Head of State is a PDP man and he (Oritsejafor) is linked with this rubbish. So what other proof do you want that CAN has now become an appendage of the PDP?
So do you feel now that President Jonathan and Oritsejafor have a case of money laundering to answer?
Of course, they have. In fact, if I have a lawyer, I would sue them. And I am telling you that I will win. If you can tell me that if I carry huge sums of money without declaring it, that you will arrest me for money laundering, then what is this one. They were carrying all that money and it was not declared. It is a clear case of money laundering. Yet, they are the ones making laws against money laundering.
The report that the aircraft which flew some Nigerians and an Israeli to South Africa allegedly to purchase arms belongs to Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor has once again revived the debate about the propriety of ministers of God owning private jets. What is your view about this episode?
As far as I am concerned, why are they men of God? I asked one so-called religious leader, and you know what he told me? He said, “My God is a rich God. So if yours is a poor God, that’s your business.” Imagine! So you can even see that this one can’t be called a man of God. And these are the people that tell you they can work miracles, that they have a direct telephone line to God.
They say they can do this, they can do that, and God is watching all of us. If it were to be in the Old Testament, they would all have been struck down by God. But God is a patient God. We have to be praying for this kind of people, for them to have a change of heart. What are they looking for with jet? Another one said, “Jesus said go into the whole world and evangelize, so how can I go into the whole world, with what? I need a plane to be able to go to the whole world.”
Even the devil can quote scripture. But did Jesus Christ say you should go and steal to go and buy plane? But now they are claiming that they were given the jets as gifts. But why can’t they spend that money on the poor? There are many Nigerians who are begging that they have nothing to eat, and yet you say you’re preaching. Preaching for what? Are there no pastors where they are going? May God not punish us according to our sins.
Do you see indications that there is now a sufficient will to tackle corruption, or that corruption is no longer as pervasive as it was?
Corruption is in every nation but Nigeria’s own is number one. I am telling you. And if we are not careful, this nation will go down the drain. Now, people can’t help you to bring something from that corner without asking for remuneration. Look at so many children and youths who have no school to go to, or no money to pay school fees, and there are rich men who parade themselves up and down the place as rich people. For what? They seem to have forgotten that this life is not the end. Nobody chose his parents, and nobody came into the world with a gold or silver spoon.
So even if you have a gold or silver spoon, you are going to go empty handed. A wise man lives life in a simple way. That is how I am. Even Fela told them the truth, even though they said he was mad and called him all sorts of names. Naked you came into this world, and naked you will go back. These are people that are supposed to rule and govern this nation. What is happening? Money is exchanging hands.
Now, they are asking the nation and the national assembly to approve so and so huge sum of money for them to borrow. They think people are stupid. Whatever you do as the Head of State without the permission of the people, you will pay for it. Those who were ministers and Heads of State before, some of them are in Abuja today begging for job, because if you get ill-gotten wealth, you will spend it anyhow. It is an ill wind that blows no one any good.
With the next election just a few months away, what would you say of the president’s ambition to seek re-election?
You can deduce that from what I have said before. You can even see from all that is going on, that some people have been saying that he even signed for one term. You see, if I were in his shoes, I would hide my head. I am not a prophet, just like I told him that day, but that is what my mind is telling me. And nobody knows what is going to happen. Even, nobody knows who is going to be alive to see 2015. So, one has to be very careful.
Talking about election, what kind of election are we even going to have in Nigeria? Is it going to be free and fair and just? Tell me what election we have had in Nigeria that is free and fair? Is it not mouth that they use in saying it is free and fair?

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