The umbrella Christian body said, on Sunday, that though it was not its duty to declare an accused person either innocent or guilty, it believed the visit to Osinbajo was made in good faith since the Vice President is also a cleric and church leader.

CAN President, Rev. Samson Ayokunle, in a statement by his media aide, Pastor Bayo Oladeji, explained, “After we had interacted with him (Osinbajo)  and he said that the allegation was baseless and should be treated as rubbish, and not only that, that he said that he was going to pursue the matter legally to prove his innocence, we then assured him that if he is proved innocent, then we throw our weight behind him.

“We thereafter prayed for him and our nation Nigeria. We urged him to continue to serve the nation with clean hands.”

Ayokunle, however, dismissed reports which portrayed him as taking a stand, on behalf of the Church, on the controversial matter.

He said, “The leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) can never endorse corruption and has never exonerated anyone accused of corruption because we are not a court of law.

“Anyone accused of corruption has to prove his or her innocence with documentary evidence before the court of competent jurisdiction as we all know before his or her innocence can be upheld.”

“The leadership of CAN has never endorsed corruption. In our earlier visits to President Muhammadu Buhari, we had praised him for fighting the war against corruption but urged him to make it comprehensive, sparing no one irrespective of political affiliation.”