CHRISTIAN Association of Nigeria (Can) president Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor commenced moves to amend the body's constitution to enable him run for an unprecedented third term in office.
Highly controversial, Pastor Oritsejafor us a very close associate of former president Dr Goodluck Jonathan and was accused of making Can an appendage of his government. He was also mixed up in a money laundering scandal in 2014 when $9.3m was seized from his plane in South Africa in Johannesburg.
On September 5 2014, South African customs officials seized the Bombardier Challenger 601 private jet containing $9.3m in cash at Johannesburg international airport. It is believed that the money was given to Pastor Oritsejafor by the former national security adviser Col Sambo Dasuki, who is currently under investigation for misusing $2.1bn voted to procure arms for the Nigerian military.
Pastor Oritsejafor's tenure is due to end this year but there are indications that he intends running for a third term. He is also said to be nursing the idea of making himself the lifetime chairman of Can's board of trustees should the third term agenda fail to get passed at next week meeting in Abuja in Tuesday.
One Can source said: “Already, the Can president and his team have drafted the constitution to create more blocks so that the third term bid for Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor can be realised or he becomes life board chairman. If the agenda does not go through, they would postpone the election till further notice.
“I am saying this so that Christian leaders would know the antics of the Can president. Pastor Ayo is scared of facing trial over his involvement in the arms deal and other financial scandals and wants to hide under Can, which is why he does not want to leave office.”
He added that pastor Oritsejafor does not want to be investigated by President Muhammadu Buhari and wants to get Christian support and sentiment, which is why he is pushing for constitutional amendment, knowing that his tenure will soon expire in less than five months time. There is clause in the current Can constitution that forbids any amendment until a six-month notice is given to all members, so reviewing the constitution now ahead of the elections is technically out of the question.
According to the Can source, some Christian leaders have threatened to take legal action should Pastor Oritsejafor use money to buy states representatives to vote in favour of his illegal and unpopular constitution amendment during next Tuesday's meeting. Another option according the source is to mobilise like-minded Christian leaders to form a new body that will stand for truth and righteousness.
Professor Daniel Babaye, the chairman of Can's northern chapter conformed that a constitution amendment is being considered but said he was not aware of the third term clause in the plan. According to Professor Babaye, if such a plan exists, it would not even sail through.
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