The Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN) Friday, September 27, 2014 denied that President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama had indicted President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN,Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor over the $9.3 million aborted arms deal in South Africa.
Some media reports had on the 25th of September, 2014 said that the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria has said that Oritsejafor was a “disgrace to Christianity“.
In a statement signed by the Director of Communication, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Rev. Fr Chris Anyanwu, the Catholic Church said that “our attention has been drawn to the reports in some online editions of some newspapers with misleading headlines, posted on Thursday 25th September 2014, and suggesting that Most Rev. Ignatius Ayau Kaigama, the President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) accused Pastor Ayo Ortistejafor of denting the image of the Christian Association of Nigeria over the case of the jet that was found with $9.3milion allegedly owned by the CAN President.
“The said report is not only false and malicious but a calculated attempt to further sow the seed of disharmony between Catholics and the leadership of CAN. While we disassociate ourselves from the newspaper reports, it is important to put the records in the right perspective.
“Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama granted an interview with the Hausa BBC Service in Kaduna in which he condemned money laundering,” Anyanwu maintained.
Quoting Kaigama, Anyanwu stressed that he said, “the relevant authorities in Nigeria ought to investigate the issue of the $9.3million arms deals saga dispassionately and ensure that those found guilty of money laundering be punished according to the provision of the existing law of our land against money laundering.
He never, in the said interview, cast any aspersion on the person of Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
The statement was released to newsmen in Abuja.
