The war of words between the Christian Asso­ciation of Nigeria (CAN) and the Pastor of Household of God, Revd Chris Okotie, over the botched 9.3 million dol­lar arms deal involving the private jet of the CAN President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, continued yesterday, with Okotie firing a blistering salvo at the Christian body.
The CAN and the Lagos-based pastor have been at loggerheads, following the latter’s call for Oritsejafor’s resignation as CAN president.
Responding to CAN’s statement that he had no moral right to demand the resigna­tion of its leader, Okotie, in his characteristic man­ner of using highsounding words said: “ I will not nobili­tate such prosaic apologetic by a retort. Socrates once said to a young man ‘speak that I might see thee.’
“Now that CAN has spo­ken, even team Jonathan has spoken. Nigerians can now fully visualise the portrait of complicity shrouded in du­plicity.
“Truth is never out of kilter. Hahaha!”
Recall that in calling for Oritsejafor’s resignation, Oko­tie had accused the former of compromising the integrity of his office by hobnobbing pub­licly with President Goodluck Jonathan.
Wondering why it was Orit­sejafor’s jet that was chartered for the South African trip, the Household of God pastor had stated: “His friendship with the president has been at the centre of the controversies that mark his explosive tenure as leader of the eponymous reli­gious organisation in Nigeria.
“The pastor does not show restraint in the way he goes about publicly, hobnob­bing with the President as if he is the Chaplain of Aso Rock. Considering the damage Pas­tor Ayo’s close relationship with the President has done to the Christian community, it is fit and proper for the pastor to resign immediately as CAN President to salvage what re­mains of the battered image of the association.”
But faulting Okotie’s state­ment, CAN through its Di­rector of National Issues, Mr. Sunny Oibe told a national daily that the Lagos pastor should put his home in order first before anything else.
Oibe was quoted to have said: “Is Chris Okotie a Chris­tian? How many wives has he? He should go and sought him­self out. Even the government has exonerated Pastor Ayo of all the allegations. So, who is Okotie? Well, it is laugh­able if Chris Okotie should demand that Pastor Ayo Orit­sejafor should resign as CAN president.
“Chris Okotie should re­move the log in his eyes be­fore he begins to see a peck in somebody’s eyes. Pastor Ayo had a soaring integrity before he was elected the president of CAN. Who elected Chris Oko­tie to become the spokesper­son of Christians in Nigeria?”