Oritsejafor
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 worldwide
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.
Vanguard
get as it bi jare
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