Seized $9.3million Controversy: APC raises 13 questions for President Jonathan

Press Release

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged President Goodluck Jonathan to come clean on the circumstances surrounding the 9.3 million US dollars that was impounded in South Africa, which has become the latest in a series of global ridicule to which the scandal-prone Jonathan administration has subjected Nigeria and her people.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, the party also called on the National Assembly to launch an urgent investigation into the issue, saying the silence of the peoples’ representatives on the issue is deafening, unfathomable and unacceptable.

It said there is no doubt that the President is at the centre of the whole issue, considering the presidential treatment given to the plane and its cargo, since the plane departed from the Presidential wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, away from the reach of the Nigerian Customs Service which could not therefore have cleared the plane and its passengers.

”It is absolutely urgent for President Jonathan to clear the air on this alleged off-the-shelf equipment or arms purchase, which runs against all known protocol for such purchases anywhere in the world. Military equipment and weapons are not bean cakes to be purchased by the road side. There are globally-acceptable protocols for such purchases by governments, otherwise what differentiates a government from an insurgent group that is shopping for arms?

”Is the Jonathan Administration not aware that the UN General Assembly on April 2nd 2013 adopted a landmark Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) precisely to regulate the international trade in conventional weapons by avoiding the kind of road-side purchase that the Nigerian government is said to have been involved in? Though the ATT has not come into effect, the fact that Nigeria is among the few countries to have signed and ratified the treaty shows that the country is concerned by unregulated arms trade,’’ the APC said.
The party said the resort to ”procedural error” to explain away the whole issue cannot work, because Nigerian authorities cannot pretend not to be aware that currency brought into or taken from South Africa is monitored by law, and that anyone bringing into that country more than R25,000 in South African currency or U$10,000 or the equivalent thereof in foreign currency must declared such.

It said that in any case, those who are using ”procedural error” as an alibi are being too clever by half. This is because if entering or leaving a country with undeclared $9.3 million is mere ”procedural error”, why was Sule Lamido’s son convicted for not declaring a mere $50,000 dollars at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport?

The APC said in the spirit of fairness, it has however decided to give President Jonathan and the government he heads the opportunity to make urgently-needed clarifications by answering a number of questions relating to the $9.3 million scandal.

“Is the money indeed meant to purchase a helicopter as has been reported?
“To which arm of the government or security force does the money belong?
“Who appropriated it and for what purpose?

“Why was the money being ferried in cash by the same government that has been spending huge time and money to promote a cashless policy? Is the resort to cash to avoid a paper trail for the transaction, in which case it is illegal?

”Mr. President, we are aware that each arm of security has an account with the CBN for the purpose of arms purchase and such transactions are properly documented, so why was this not the case in this instance?

‘Mr. President, why did it take your government all of 10 days to admit its involvement in this scandal, considering that the embarrassing incident happened since Sept. 5th and was not known until Sept. 15th?

“Does this saga not give credence to the widely held view that you are indeed benefitting from the the Boko Haram insurgency and that you have deliberately allowed it to escalate to this level?
”Mr. President, has this saga not confirmed the suspicion that your 2015 reelection bid has been factored into your handling of the Boko Haram insurgency?

“Has this saga not given more credence to revelations that the sponsors of Boko Haram are those closest to the President?

Has this saga not finally confirmed that the President knows more than he is telling the nation about the sudden escalation of the Boko Haram insurgency, especially in the run up to the 2015 elections?
”Mr. President, has this saga not confirmed that powerful forces in your administration are all working in concert to use the Boko Haram insurgency to secure tenure extension for President Jonathan?
“Is not clear now why the Senate President infamously declared two days ago that election is not on the table since the country is in a state of war?

“Have we not been proven right in our declaration at the panel discussion in the British House of Commons on Sept. 8th 2014 that the Jonathan administration will attempt to cash in on the Boko Haram insurgency to postpone elections?”

The party said the answers to the questions raised would go a long way in showing Nigerians that their government is not clandestinely buying equipment and weapons to fuel the Boko Haram insurgency and then profit from its own act of perfidy.

It said while the President is compiling his answers to the posers, he should ask his spokespersons to stop adding insult to injury by saying the CIA, FBI, Mossad etc also travel abroad with undeclared cash, in clear violation of the laws of their destination countries, to buy arms.

”Mr President only gangsters and terrorists conduct their businesses in this manner. Therefore, please call your spokespersons to order, while you are preparing to come clean to Nigerians on this latest scandal,” APC said. 

Culled From Premium Times September 18, 2014

Why I will not stop talking about missing $20bn - Timi Frank

Writing under the topic: "Timi Frank's Obsession With Phantom $20bn" on my back page column in the LEADERSHIP NEWSPAPERS of Tuesday 16, one "John Abiola-Bada" purportedly a "public policy analyst based in Lagos" tried unsuccessfully to respond to my article of Tuesday 9th titled: "Still on Jonathan, Diezani and the missing $20billion."

However, a cursory check, after reading the often repeated lies in the piece, revealed that there is no such "public policy analyst based in Lagos" by the name "John Abiola-Bada" but that the write-up emanated from the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), using "John Abiola-Bada" as a pseudonym.

However, in their desperation to further regurgitate their well-worn lies, Diezani and the NNPC chose to write incognito in the hope that a continuous recast of their prevarications would make Nigerians accept them as truth. But they are wrong. They are wrong because Nigerians have read between the lines and they know the masquerades that masterminded the deliberate falsehood.

Ordinarily, one would not want to dignify a "ghost" with a response or waste precious time, space and resources to answer critics too petrified to make their true identities public, but I am compelled to make a few clarifications here so that right thinking members of the public would not be tempted to believe the baseless illogicalities parroted by the NNPC and Diezani through ghost writing. The resort to disguised publications, I am reliably informed, is meant to rebrand their image both nationally and internationally.

I want to state unequivocally that all allegations against my person and the publisher of LEADERSHIP Newspaper in the purported write-up by the faceless hirelings of Diezani and the NNPC are baseless and without any truth whatsoever. They are only seeking ways to divert the attention of Nigerians from the main issues so as to further bury their nefarious activities which I have vowed not to allow to happen. Needless to say that even the Federal Government did not buy the red herring cum Senate report that supposedly cleared Diezani and the NNPC which they quoted copiously in the write-up. Therefore, the appointment of Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) to carry out a forensic audit of the NNPC's records. Any attempt to explain away the missing $20billion on the basis of a jaundiced report of the Senate Committee on Finance remains unacceptable to majority of Nigerians.

Some members of the Committee had in their mortgaged conclusion, submitted that $49.8billion never existed. On the other hand, they served Nigerians with a higher figure of $67billion as the amount of crude oil sales for the period in contention. Therefore, the unanimous agreement by the various stakeholders after due reconciliations that the NNPC only remitted $47billion into the Federation Account out of the new figure of $67billion led to the outstanding balance of $20billion in question. I make bold to say that no where in the report did the Committee availed Nigerians of a detailed evidence based analysis of how and when the outstanding $20billion was remitted into the federal coffers or used to settle concocted subsidy claims which appears to be the usual refrain of the NNPC. So I ask, where is the missing $20billion oil revenue from the NNPC?

I have never hidden the fact that I believe that the NNPC under the supervision of Diezani is complicit in the missing $20bn, and therefore, I have never stopped to call on Mr. President and well meaning Nigerians not to allow the matter to be swept under the carpet. Aside, I have petitioned the EFCC to investigate the $20billion heist as well as the international community to come to the aid of Nigeria in its effort to recover the humongous amount and to help scale up the fight against corruption in high places.

Those behind the write up say I should not talk because the "Senate has cleared the NNPC and Diezani," but they forget that the Senate is not a court of law but a law making body. So how could they have cleared the NNPC and Diezani on this matter?

Consequently, I wish to let Nigerians know that this is just the beginning of my struggle against impunity and brazen corruption in this country. The missing $20billion is significant in that it signposts the collateral damage our economy has continued to undergo through and through. It is now clear that the reply was sponsored through a pen name to defend the NNPC and Diezani as part of their ongoing rebranding campaign in both traditional, social and online media.

The missing $20billion belongs to Nigerians and not any government official. Therefore, no amount of name calling, blackmail, intimidation, threat messages and harassment will stop me from talking about it. Right now, my lawyers are in court seeking to compel the Economic and Financial Crimes (EFCC) to investigate and prosecute all those responsible for the missing $20billion. On my part, I will keep organizing public protests and encouraging Nigerians both home and abroad to embark on open demonstrations so as to draw the attention of Nigerians and the international community to this cancerous plight of corruption in our country.

Again, this is just the beginning of the struggle to recoup the $20billion because Diezani and the NNPC have not answered the questions being raised by Nigerians. The impunity with which Diezani carries out her duties again calls for the concern of all. Under her tenure, four Group Managing Directors (GMDs) of the NNPC have been sacked. Yet she remains the main problem as Chair of the Board of the NNPC.

What are we even talking about? Is Diezani still worthy to be in office in spite of being overly protected to continue her ruinous acts in the economy? Under her watch, staff of refineries that have not been able to achieve 50 per cent of installed production capacity are threatening to go on strike. The missing $20billion, if found, is more than enough to settle staff claims in the Corporation as well as counter other myriads of security issues bedeviling our country today. So what is she still doing there? One million hatchet jobs by Diezani and the NNPC cannot stop me from carrying on the struggle.

I have assured Nigerians before now that the issue of the missing $20billion is a fight of no retreat no surrender. I want to assure them once again that I will not let them down despite the intimidation, blackmail, harassment and name calling by Diezani and her associates. The issue of missing $20 billion and the squandering of N10billion for private jet hire cannot be wished away just like previous cases of corruption in Nigeria. I will continue to lead the struggle to expose corruption in Nigeria and for the recovery of the missing $20billion. The truth is still standing - whether the government or NNPC likes it or not - $20billion oil revenue is still missing!

Signed:

Comrade Timi Frank
08070888888

Christians Should Challenge Pastors To Maintain Transparent Accounts–Femi Falana

Femi Falana (SAN) today called on all Christians to challenge pastors who have diverted contributions and funds from their congregations churches to build universities which the children of the same congregation cannot attend.

Describing the practice as “a sin, illegal and unjust,” Falana made this remark as part of his keynote address at the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders annual general convention held in Oregun today, with the theme "Institutionalizing Probity & Accountability in Governance: Perspectives and Methodologies".

“If you set up a school and the poor people who contributed those funds, cannot attend those institutions because you set up those schools for the children of the rich, you are bound to be made to account,” he said.

“Some Nigerian pastors are under investigation because they had registered as charities and a charitable organization cannot siphon funds to do business. This is why some respected pastors cannot travel to the UK today because they have been indicted,” he said.

He warned those who are using church funds to establish universities are soon going to have to render accounts. 

In the same vein the Executive Chairman of CACOL, Debo Adeniran, has described Lagos State as being governed under false pretense. "It is no gainsaying that Lagos has been running a government of grandstanding imbued by propaganda and bare-faced deception," he said.

He added that "nobody outside the hierarchy of the state government of the state government can give exact figure of the state’s IGR. The mechanism or arrangement of revenue collection is shrouded in secrecy."

"There has been dismal governmental failure in the area of the execution of the capital side of the budget and Lagos has been governed by false pretenses otherwise known as 419 governance."

For Lagosians and Nigerians to fully appreciate the extent of corruption, diligent analysis of budgetary implementation becomes imperative with a view to exposing the official deception that has become governmental policies at various levels of government.

In attendance at the forum was Alhaji Lateef Jakande, Chief Olapade Agoro, Barrister Muhammed Fawehinmi, Barrister Muiz Banire.

DOES CAN REPRESENT CHRISTIANITY TRULY OR JONATHANIANS ONLY? Read these desperate lies and decide

Our attention has been drawn to the desperation of some elements working for a particular political party within our society to tarnish the image of the President of Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor. They are working for the All Progressives Congress and they are not unknown to us. Let Nigerians have this background for them to judge themselves.

These shameless characters including a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nasir El-Rufai and National Publicity Secretary of All Progressives Congress, Lai Mohammed, went to UK to embark on an image laundering for their political party, the APC. El-Rufai had once said there are three sets of Boko Haram in Nigeria: Islamic Boko Haram, Politicians’ Boko Haram and Christians’ Boko Haram which he said are being funded by President Goodluck Jonathan and coordinated by CAN President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor. He went further to claim that the CAN President has been given N50 billion by the President and a Jet.

The same characters, went head to sponsor a negative report in Saharareporters. I had expected that by now no sane mind will take any report by Saharareporters serious because it is an online news medium which thrives on falsehood and survives on false propaganda and blackmail.

The aircraft in question is owned by Eagle Air Company and the CAN President is an interested party in the company. Since August 2 2014, this Aircraft has been leased to Green Coast Produce Limited. They lease this aircraft and people rent it from them. Anybody in this country will attest to the fact that Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor has been following Chartered Airlines. All investigations about the plane should be directed to the management of Green Coast Produce Limited, a duly registered company. Further enquiries about this should be confirmed from Eagle Air Company which leased this Aircraft.

El-Rufai has accused Jesus Christ severally in recent times. El-Rufai and his group met and decided to launch a blackmail against Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor because he is an ardent supporter of President Goodluck Jonathan. This, he did, to elicit sentiment from the society. We want Nigerians to ponder over this: if Nigeria wants to buy arms, the government knows where to get their weapons. How did Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor come into this?

The report is a well-organized orchestrated plan, all because of their desperation for the 2015 general elections. If not for the blindness and intellectual myopia of some Nigerians, people in the calibre of El-Rufai shouldn’t be taken seriously and should not be walking on the streets. This was the same El-Rufai abusing Gen. Muhammad’s Buhari (retd) and ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, calling them all sorts of names. El-Rufai is more of a Street Boy whose history and antecedents are very much known. He has been the person defending Boko Haram and this is an opportunity for him to hide his misdeeds. We are waiting and we can assure you that at the appropriate time, he and his allies will pay dearly for it. The international community sees APC as an Islamic party; instead of El-Rufai to deny that, he was busy orchestrating spurious propaganda against Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor.

The public should also not forget that it was Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor who went to the United States’ Congress and suggested that Boko Haram Islamic sect should be domesticated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). It is the same El-Rufai who is accusing the CAN President as the person behind Boko Haram. A word should be enough for the wise!

Sunny Oibe
Director of National Issues (CAN)

BREAKING NEWS: Engineering Student Predicted TB Joshua Church Building Collapse In 2012

Engineering Student Efe Adelugba accurately predicts the September 12th Synagogue Church Building crash by utilizing scientific, mathematical, practical and logical building construction principles.

It all came to light when copies of Efe’s 2012 Civil Engineering thesis titled“Things Fall Apart: A Detailed Look At Why Buildings Collapse” was leaked to the press yesterday night. Although the SCOAN building was not named explicitly in the thesis, experts are still claiming that it is an accurate prediction of the September 12th event as several key factors align…

In the thesis, it is prophesized said that a foundation when loaded beyond its ultimate strength will ultimately crack under pressure causing the building to collapse. And this was exactly the case with the SCOAN building. As it collapsed when construction work was going on to raise the building to a five storey building … even though the foundation was designed for only 2-storeys!

Efe further prophesized stated that situations were such building collapse occurs could lead to deaths of dozens of people and injuries to hundreds. Again this was in line with the actual building crash collapse data where the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) stated that the death toll from the collapse is now at 40 with over 120 people injured. As more and more experts are reading Efe’s thesis they are coming to realize that it could be (when edited slightly) used to predict several other building collapses in Lagos between 2012 and 2014 and those that have not even happened!

When our ofilispeaks.com correspondents reached Efe Adelugba … he was at his parents home where he has been for the past 2 years looking for a job. But with the viral popularity of his thesis, he is now considering dropping the search for an Engineering job and becoming a Church Entrepreneur where he will be paid millions of Naira dollars to prophesize disasters across Nigeria. When asked why he wanted to switch, Efe replied

“If T.B.Joshua can predict the obvious and get paid, why can’t I!”

Sounds logical. We even asked Efe to share other predictions with us and and he told us this …

“In December there will be many accidents on the roads of Nigeria, more than other months in the year. This is obviously because more people on holidays will be travelling on the roads and because most of our roads are bad, but as a prophet I will just blame that on the Devil.”

With the money prophets are making in Nigeria, Efe’s decision to switch is financially promising and he is being encouraged by his Parents who believe that if Efe can work on his healing skills he could be on to something. Before we left, Efe gave us another prophetic piece of advise:

“If the T.B Joshua read my thesis, he would have known that his church needed to seek approval from the Lagos state government to get sound feedback. Such action would have likely averted this disaster.”

When we asked the T.B.Joshua camp about Efe’s final statement on approval, we were told that T.B.Joshua did not need the state governments approval, because he already had the anionted approval of God. This makes sense, after all if Jesus says yes, nobody can say no.Absolutely NOBODY and this includes the Lagos state government, engineering students and Sir Isaac Newton … I mean who are they to challenge God with engineering principles.

After numerous phone calls, we were finally able to catch up with T.B. Joshua himself. And he told us that God had actually revealed to him in a dream that the building would collapse after a black aeroplane flies over it 4 times. However, he did not want to publicize the prophecy because the black Aeroplane did not crash. Per T.B. Joshua “God has ordained me to predict plane crashes and not building collapses.”

All attempts to reach “God” to verify T.B Joshua’s claim proved futile … because sadly none of the ofilispeaks.comstaff are anointed enough to communicate with God. So we are just left with T.B. Joshua claims and the thesis of a Civil Engineering Student.

Editor’s Note: This is satire.

Okechukwu Ofili is an author, speaker, and blogger and a The Trent Elite Voice. Follow him on twitter, Facebook orsubscribe to his blog for more honest talk and as @ofilispeaks on instagram for more sketches! To bring Ofili to your school or organization as a speaker simply go here. His third book How Intelligence Kills was published in December 2013, order it at http://bit.ly/intelligencekills.

Reveal Identities Of Boko Haram Sponsors Within 14 Days – SERAP Tells CBN

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, has asked the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, to reveal the identities of persons involved in funding the activities of terrorist group, Boko Haram through the bank.

This demand was made in a statement issued by the groups executive director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, on Monday, September 15, 2014.

The demand comes on the hills of allegations made by self acclaimed Australian Boko Haram sponsor, Stephen Davis, who claimed the Islamist extremist sect was being funded by a top CBN official.

Relying on the Freedom of Information Act, SERAP has asked the CNB governor to provide details on the exact nature and duration of such transactions within 14 days.

The organisation threatened to take legal actions against the CBN under the FoI Act to compel the CBN to comply.

The letter reads in part:

“Given the involvement of the CBN in this matter and the fact that you are the governor of the bank, we believe that you will be able to use your position and leadership to provide appropriate records and information on what exactly happened.

“SERAP is concerned about the damaging allegation especially given that the CBN as a regulatory body has a responsibility under the United Nations convention against corruption and other national laws to prevent money laundering in banks, and to ensure that its systems are transparent and accountable to the Nigerian people.”

Boko Haram Has Now Installed Emirs in Four Borno Towns, Senator Ndume Confirms Two

The Boko Haram insurgents group has now installed Emirs in Borno towns of Gwoza, Bama, Damboa and Dikwa.

Abusidiqu has reported on Monday that the sectinstalled one Mohamed Danjuma as the emir of Bama. This was followed by another report stating that a newemir was installed by the sect in Dikwa.

But the Senator representing Borno South in the National Assembly, Senator Ali Dume told his colleagues as Senate resumed from its two-month recess yesterday that the sect has installed emirs in Gwoza and Dambua.

Senator Ndume told lawmakers that Boko Haram has literally sacked two emirs and installed their own on Monday.

His words: “I represent southern Borno and Gwoza. The challenges we are facing are more serious than what we have faced before. We, the people of southern Borno, particularly Gwoza, parts of Adamawa and Yobe know that it’s presently occupied!

“I read here on the Senate Order Paper about a threat. It’s no longer a threat; somebody is occupying that place and he’s declared it a caliphate!

“Yesterday, a new emir was installed by Boko Haram in Dambua. The original emir is taking refuge in Abuja. Boko Haram installed a new emir in Gwoza…Recently, we conceded the extension of state of emergency and it was because it could get out of hand. Can it get out of hand more than what is happening now?”, he asked.

NIGERIA 2015: PDP youths issue ultimatum to President Jonathan to declare

The People’s Democratic Party National Youth Frontier has given President Goodluck Jonathan a 30-day ultimatum to declare his intention for the 2015 presidency. 

The group gave the ultimatum in Abuja during a world press conference titled ‘The Ultimate Ultimatum’, according to report from Daily Trust Its coordinator, Usman Okai, said the group wanted Jonathan to seek re-election for “policy consistency, holistic consolidation of the transformation agenda and more youth inclusiveness in governance”.

 “Today, we join other well-meaning and patriotic Nigerians to appeal to Mr. President to please accede to the clarion call by majority of Nigerians at home and in the diaspora to declare his intention to contest the 2015 presidential election within 30 days from this day”. 

He commended the national chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Adamu Muazu, for his leadership role.

Ayobami Oyalowo: The Jonathan Government Goes Rogue; As Oritsejafor Hides Behind one Finger

The Jonathan Government Goes Rogue; As Oritsejafor Hide Behind one Finger – By Ayobami OyalowoWhen the news broke that a private plane from Nigeria was seized in South Africa with brand new dollar notes of about $10m my heart palpitated and I was askance even though I was in the midst of others. My fear steamed for a few facts. I was sure that the federal government of Nigeria will do what it does best; keep mum and then later will either deny or offer some lame explanations while muddling up the waters sufficiently enough by using pawns to obliterate the facts of the matter and politicizing the issues, hereby diverting our attention away to other things.

Sad to say, I have been proved right on every count. Not only have they started their campaign of calumny, they have used a most saddening approach; they are playing the religious card. Why is the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) getting involved in a supposedly private matter of such dangerous proportion? We shall come back to the CAN later on. Suffice to say that Nigeria is in deeper troubles than we are presently prepared to admit to. Sadly, the trouble and danger inherent is potent enough and highly dangerous to our corporate existence, while collectively playing the ostrich will benefit no one eventually.

Here are the facts of the matter. On 5th September 2014, a Bombardier Challenger 600, with a Nigerian flight crew piloted by Captain Tunde Ojongbede, flew into South Africa and landed at Lanseria Airport in Johannesburg. Eventually we got to understand that there were two planes and not one that flew in to South Africa.

The other plane involved, used by Swat Inc., a Hawker Siddeley 125, also with an American registration number (N497AG), landed at Lanseria Airport last month. That plane and its passengers remained in the country for two days before returning to Abuja on August 13.

When the passengers luggage were checked, officials of SA Revenue Service (Sars), found undeclared raw cash of $9.3 million on the passengers. On board one the seized aircrafts was also an Abuja-based Israeli man, Eyal Mesika, whom we were told was the only man with the combinations to open the lock on the suit cases containing the cash to be laundered or used to purchase illegal arms by the order of some unnamed persons in the Nigerian Government.

One amazing fact is that the Nigerian government has maintained a curious silence since the scandal broke on September 5th when South African law enforcement agents confiscated $9.3 million from the two private jets. If Sahara Reporters did not blow the lid on the illegality, I doubt if ordinary Nigerians would have known the kind of gang we currently parade as political and religious leaders.

South African airport security spokesman Solomon Makgale confirmed a police investigation was underway but declined to give details. The aircraft was temporarily impounded, but was allowed to return to Abuja about four days after the initial arrest of the plane because the Nigerian government reached out to its South African counterparts, ostensibly to douse the tension and keep the fact away from the public.

The arrested passengers apparently told officials they were acting on behalf of the Nigerian intelligence service, and they provided documentation confirming they had come to South Africa to buy weapons. However, the National Conventional Arms Control Committee, which has to approve the import and export of any weapons as well as issue permits for such transactions, was not aware of any applications in this case. It is also not clear whether the Israeli passenger was an intelligence operative or an arms dealer.

A spokesman for South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority disclosed that the country’s investigators found the Nigerian arms buyers with invoices from two South African firms called Tier One and ESD. The invoices were for armaments and a helicopter.

According to South Africa’s City Press, “In court papers, the NPA submitted evidence that Tier One is not registered with the National Conventional Arms Control Committee and is thus not authorized to enter into any agreements regarding the sale and/or rental of military equipment.”

The paper further revealed, “The agreement between Tier One and ESD was concluded on September 8, three days after the money was seized at Lanseria.”

We can safely conclude therefore that the arms deal was supposed to be a black market operation and therefore an illegal arm purchase. Such arms could end up anywhere either in the hands of the Niger Delta militants, political thugs and assassins, or even the dreaded Boko Haram militants…your guess is as good as mine.

After much hush hush, it finally emerged that the bombardier jet involved in the illegal money laundering and purchase of black market arms belonged to Pastor Ayodele Joseph Oritsejafor the founding and Senior Pastor of Word of Life Bible Church, located in Warri, southern Nigeria, and currently the President of CAN.

A statement released by the church on behalf of Pastor Oritsejafor reads in part “On behalf of Pastor Oritsejafor, we can confirm that although he holds an interest in Eagle Air, the aircraft in question is not operated by Pastor Oritsejafor. The aircraft was leased to, and is operated by Green Coast Produce Limited since August 2.”

But, here are a few questions keen watchers have been asking. FAAN just over a year ago readjusted the laws guiding the usage of non-scheduled commercial operators. The law according to the Nigerian aviation authorities seeks to regulate and stop the abuse by private jets owners, who turn their planes over for commercial  purposes illegally.

Therefore one should ask, why was Pastor Ayo private jet leased out for a supposedly commercial purpose since August 2nd 2014 according to him?

Recall also that private jet owners were not only barred from leasing their planes out for commercial purposes, they were also barred from carrying people other than their family members.

The above reasons alone are enough to indict Pastor Ayo and his co-travelers.

Now, let’s come to the issue of CAN. Pastor Ayo is first and foremost the senior Pastor and founder of a church and we all remembered his initial claims that the plane was a gift by some unnamed members of his church. If that is the case, why is the church not in the forefront of defending his latest escapade? Why drag CAN into his private church business?

I am a Christian and as such an affiliate of CAN. Pastor Ayo should be left alone to defend himself and his private business without dragging CAN alongside himself. Why has CAN become the private enterprise of one man?

CAN have existed before the advent of Pastor Oritsejafor and should be left alone to do what it was established to do. The statement supposedly released in the defense of Pastor Oritsejafor by a certain Sunny Oibe on behalf of CAN is not only reprehensible, it is asinine; it is disgraceful and it is totally unbecoming of what an organization representing the body of Christ should ever have thought of, let alone made public. It was not only acerbic and jejune, it was a classic gutter styled gobbledygook that no self respecting Christian body should ever be associated with no matter the level of “provocation”.

Please don’t bring the “Touch not mine anointed” crap here. For your information, severally we have been reprimanded to “touch not mine anointed” but is this the correct application of this scripture? In which context was this phrase used in the Bible? It can be found in Psalm 105:15 and repeated in 1Chronicles 16:22. That passage was written to praise the works of God when He brought out the children of Israel from Egypt and saved them from several dangers, even though they were few in number. It was never about a pastor or a church leader. It was written to praise God in taking care of a called out people. Anointed vessels are men who allow God to do his bidding through them.

Note that those people who do his bidding must be “called out” and what is the “church”? The root word for church is “Ecclesia” which simply means “the called out ones”. Therefore, that passage can also mean “touch not the church”. Do NOT be deceived. It was never written to protect or immune “penterascality” or ‘pastopreneurs’ from honest criticism. It was written as a mark or seal of God’s protection upon His chosen ones and His chosen ones are his body, His church.

Pastor Ayo will do well to resign his position as CAN President and face his calling squarely. He has done more to harm the reputation of CAN by his several actions and careless speeches. It is written in 2 Timothy 2:4, “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.”

In 1 Peter 4: 17 it is written, “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begins with us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?”

To serve God is to serve his people. Let Pastor Ayo search himself, has he been true to the one who called him? Let God be true, let all men be liars.

Pastor Oritsejafor’s ownership of the jet has raised several questions in the past. One of which is that the plane seized by South African officials is actually registered in the US for use only as a private jet, not for commercial purposes. Another issue is does Pastor Oritsejafor owns more than one jet? In 2012, he claimed that members of his congregation presented him with the gift of a jet. However, the registration number of the jet detained by South African authorities differs from the registration details for the jet purchased by Mr. Oritsejafor’s congregants. In response to criticism of his acquisition of a private jet, the pastor had argued that he needed the jet to enable him to travel widely for events related to his ministry. The question then is whether the commercial leasing of a private jet is part of Oritsejafor’s ministry?

Nigerians are watching the unfolding dangerous drama and waiting with a baited breath. How will the Federal Government of PDP led by Goodluck Jonathan handle this case? Will they prove their detractors right that the government of Jonathan have always known, collaborated with and have been covering up sponsors of terror in Nigeria, or will President Jonathan rise to the occasion this time?

Time will tell, but remember history is being written for the future by every present action and deliberate but highly noticeable inactions.

I am Ayobami Oyalowo and you can follow me on twitter @Ayourb

Buhari Vanguard Calls For Arrest,Prosecution of Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor

Following the seizure of a plane carrying $9.3million arms money, Buhari Vanguard has called for the arrest and prosecution of Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor,President, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). 

A statement issued by Chairman of The Buhari Vanguard, Jasper Azuatalam, read: 

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press, yesterday we received the news that two Nigerians and an Israeli was caught in South Africa for smuggling about US$10 million, which is about 1.7 Billion Naira, to buy arms. Today, further revelations have proved that the private jets used for the operation are owned by Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, President of the Christian Association of Nigeria CAN and Mr Felix Idiga, the owner of Jafac Aviation Limited.

According to the revelation, the private jet with a US registration number N808HG was one of two jets cited by South African officials on September 5 and is owned by Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor. The second is a jet registered with the name Felix Idiga, the owner of Jafac Aviation Limited. Mr. Oritsejafor's jet arrived South Africa with $9.3 million cash loaded in several suitcases meant for the purchase of arms and ammunitions.
Investigations have confirmed that Under the South African laws, a person entering or leaving the country is expected to carry cash not exceeding R25, 000 (about US$2, 300), or the equivalent in foreign currency notes. Also, arms transactions usually involve a complex bank transfer system needed to move the money between the countries involved in the deal; they are rarely done in cash.

This contravention of the South African law and other laws governing the movement of cash and the purchase of arms and ammunitions proves that the intended transaction was illegal and is possibly intended to smuggle arms to Nigerian to continue to equip terrorists in the North, pirates and militants in the Niger Delta and other forms of insurgence in Nigeria. We have several reasons to believe that this is in preparation for the 2015 general election.

We are aware that Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor is a very close confidant and friend/brother to President Goodluck Jonathan and his family. We also know that the federal Government of Nigeria has several official private jets and knows the normal procedure for procuring arms and ammunition for the nation. Hence, there would not have been a reason to use a private jet belonging to Pastor Oritsejafor to smuggle Millions of Dollars and attempt to buy arms in a way that contravenes international laws.

In view of this, the Buhari Vanguard demands that Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, the leader of the Christian Association of Nigeria CAN and a close friend to President Goodluck Jonathan, alongside Mr Felix Idiga, the owner of Jafac Aviation Limited be immediately arrested by Security operatives and investigated.
We also demand that the names of the two Nigerians and Israeli who smuggled the Millions of Dollars in South Africa be made public. Our nation should be on alert owing to the high level of insurgence ravaging our country Nigeria and our government should be able to act fast to forestall further damage to our nation.

God Bless Nigeria
Com Jasper Azuatalam
Chairman, Buhari Vanguard