Pastor Enoch Adeboye, General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), has challenged the circulation of claims that he protested against former President Goodluck Jonathan.
He insisted that the photograph being used to support the allegation was taken during a prayer exercise in 2020, long after Jonathan left office.
Adeboye said the controversy reflected the danger of publishing information without establishing its historical context.
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He accused a journalist of turning a religious exercise against insecurity into an alleged political demonstration.
The cleric spoke during the church's November Thanksgiving Service on Sunday.
He said he had no reason to deny carrying a placard but rejected the interpretation being attached to the photograph.
The spiritual leader argued that Jonathan's presidency ended in May 2015, whereas the procession in question took place in February 2020, during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
"Jonathan ceased to be president in 2015. I carried the placard five years into the second term of Buhari," he said.
The photograph showed Adeboye holding a placard with the inscription, "All Souls Are Precious to God".
It was said to be during a prayer walk in Lagos organised to draw attention to killings and worsening insecurity in the country.
The exercise was part of a three-day fasting and prayer programme declared by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
They called on churches to seek divine intervention over the country's security challenges.
During the event, reports said the procession started from the RCCG national headquarters in Ebute Meta, proceeded towards Atan Cemetery in Yaba and returned to the church.
Adeboye said the exercise was in response to a directive from the CAN chairman asking churches to organise prayer walks around their premises.
"The chairman said all churches should do a prayer walk near their churches. That's what I did," he explained.
He said the photograph had recently been presented as evidence that he once mobilised against Jonathan's government.
He described the account as a distortion that could have been avoided through basic fact-checking.
Recounting the publication, the cleric said he was initially amused by the allegation but became concerned that it was accepted and circulated without anyone checking its accuracy.
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He quoted the report as portraying him as a wicked person because he allegedly carried a placard against Jonathan.
"True, I carried a placard. I can't deny that. It was important. It was a prayer walk. We wanted to pray," he said.
Adeboye also questioned the standard of journalism that allowed an old photograph to be presented without establishing when and why the event occurred.
Drawing on his exposure to journalism studies in the 1960s, he reminded practitioners that investigative reporting required journalists to go beyond appearances and verify the circumstances surrounding a story.
"I remember in those days in the Department of Journalism, when you go there and you take a course, they talked about something called investigative journalism.
"That things don't appear as they may seem. Investigate, if you have a story, before you take it to the press", he said.
Addressing members of the creative industry, he lamented that the report had gained traction without anyone making the effort to establish the facts.
"I'm talking to those of you in the creative industry. Nobody checked," he said.
