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Tag: Prof Itse Sagay

  • Sagay: APC should return to court on Zamfara, Rivers

    Is there any remedy in law for the All Progressives Congress (APC) on the Supreme Court’s voiding of its electoral victories in Zamfara State?

    There is, says eminent lawyer Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), who asked APC to apply to the apex court for a review of the verdict as well as the one, barring the party from fielding candidates in Rivers State during the last elections.

    The court on April 24 transferred APC’s victories in Zamfara State to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for alleged irregularities in the ruling party’s  primaries.

    To Sagay, the verdicts “are a travesty of justice”.

    He said in a statement: “The Zamfara and Rivers State judgments are a national tragedy. We should not allow our legal system to throw up such unimaginable injustice.

    “This major judicial disenfranchisement of the Zamfara and Rivers electorate should be reversed.  I advise the APC legal team to apply for a review of the two judgments.

    “Their Lordships ought to be given an opportunity to reverse this unprecedented tragedy.

    “The prefix ‘Justice’ preceding the names of Supreme Court and Court of Appeal judges is significant, for it prescribes what they stand for and what they represent: justice!”

    Read also: Onnoghen: Sagay knocks senior lawyers for ‘misleading public’

    Sagay pointed out that in the governorship election in Zamfara, the APC candidate scored well over 500,000 votes while the PDP candidate scored just over 100,000 votes.

    He noted that the APC won all three Senate seats in the state, seven House of Representative seats and 24 State House of Assembly seats.

    The statement reads in part: “By this judgment, the landslide APC victories in the governorship, Senate, House of Representative and House of Assembly elections are transferred to the PDP.

    “If the APC primaries were defective, should the electorate be deprived of their democratic and constitutional rights to vote?  Is the electorate to be punished for the transgressions of party officials?

    “Should the judiciary replace the electorate’s decision and install losers in office?  Could the judiciary not have drawn on the deep recesses of its intellectual capacity, authority and its inexorable commitment to justice, to prevent this undemocratic calamity?

    “Can the APC officials not be punished, for their lapses without denying the electorate their democratic rights?  Should the judiciary take over the electoral rights of the electorate? Is this not a clear case of technical law completely overthrowing justice?

    “Have the members of the Supreme Court not achieved a level of creativity and authority to provide a solution without burying democracy and taking over from the registered voters as the judicial electorate?

    “If this judgment had been an international one, it could have been described as ‘shocking the conscience of humanity’.  In this case, it shocks the conscience of Nigerian humanity.”

    Citing several authorities, Sagay said the Supreme Court is specially endowed with the power and authority to do justice and to ignore law when it is technical and would create injustice, and to avoid at all costs a mechanical approach to the interpretation of the law.

    “Now, has justice been served in Rivers and Zamfara states?  No! In one case, innocent electorate in their hundreds of thousands were prevented from voting for their party by judicial order.

    “In Zamfara, where voting took place, the verdict of the electorate was taken away from the victorious party and awarded by the Judiciary to the woeful losers.

    “In the next four years, Zamfara State will be governed by a party and politicians rejected by the electorate.  This indeed shocks the conscience of Nigerian humanity.”

    He also referred to Section 140(1) – (3) of the Electoral Act, which prohibits any court from declaring a loser of an election elected even if the person with the highest votes was not validly elected.

    “I am not interested in the provisions of the Electoral Act 2010.  I am only deeply concerned and interested in the fundamental and peremptory principle of justice.

    “No judge should announce his judgment until he is satisfied that justice has been served, no matter how strong the pull of mechanical and technical law,” Sagay added.

  • Nganjiwa case not applicable to Onnoghen, says Sagay

    Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) Chairman Prof Itse Sagay (SAN) on Sunday disagreed with those who argue the asset non-declaration charge against Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen should have been first dealt with by the National Judicial Council (NJC).

    The Court of Appeal had held in the Justice Hyeladzira Nganjiwa case that it would amount to the usurpation of NJC’s powers if any judicial officer commits a professional misconduct within the scope of his duty and is investigated, arrested and subsequently prosecuted without a formal complaint/ report to the NJC.

    Several senior lawyers have argued that Court of Appeal judgment should have been complied with before a charge was filed against the CJN at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).

    But Sagay, in an interview with our correspondent, slammed the Court of Appeal for the judgment, describing it as unconstitutional and a bid by the justices to get immunity through the back door.

    His words: “I want to make a few points. The first is that the Nganjiwa case, as far as I’m concerned, is unconstitutional. That judgment was unconstitutional. It’s an illegal judgment.

    READ ALSO: Onnoghen: Executive attempting to intimidate Judiciary – NBA

    “It is an illicit attempt by some Justices of the Court of Appeal to give themselves immunity contrary to the provisions of the Constitution.

    “The Constitution has named those entitled to immunity – the President, Vice President, Governors and Deputy Governors.

    “What these Justices tried to do is to take over the job of the National Assembly, amend the Constitution and then hide themselves inside as those who are immune from prosecution. To me, it’s illegal and unconstitutional.

    “Number two, I’ve read the Nganjiwa judgment. It’s a judgment limited to a judge who was acting as a judicial officer, who was hearing a case and in the process was found guilty of misconduct in the hearing of that case.

    “This matter that has just occurred has nothing to do with a case in court. It has something common to all public officers before you take an office. So, there’s a major distinction. The Nganjiwa case does not cover this situation.

    “Thirdly, we’re talking of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, head of a branch of government; in fact I’ll say head of the most important branch of the government, because they’re the arbiters of anything that goes wrong in the other two arms.

    “It is said that Julius Ceasar’s wife must be above board. If I’m the Chief Justice, even a judge, and you bring such a charge against me, I will not contest jurisdiction. If I contest jurisdiction and win, you’re still going to say: ‘But you did it’.

    “Rather, I’ll waive the issue of jurisdiction, because my status is so high that I must have a clean image before the world, so that the institution I represent may not be tainted.

    “Those hiding behind jurisdiction are trying to cover up iniquities of some sort. I’m speaking generally now.

    “Those who are bringing that issue up are creating a problem for this country, because the sore will still be there. It’s as if they’re saying no doctor should treat it.

    “Those cases that went on for 12 years were because of the issue of jurisdiction – all the looters’ cases. It’s jurisdiction that was argued from High Court to Supreme Court and back. The issue of bleeding this country to death through corruption was never touched.

    “I think at the level of the officer we’re talking about now, we shouldn’t be talking of jurisdiction. We should be talking of the substance. Did he or did he not do it? That’s all.”

     

     

  • Sagay: we’re running a failed judicial system

    Prof Itse Sagay (SAN), the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) chairman, does not suffer fools gladly. He is blunt and fiery. A lawyer and teacher of no mean repute, he is not afraid of controversy. He can give as much as he can take. Right from his days as a university teacher till now, Sagay has remained a thorn in the flesh of those he tags enemies of the people. These, to him, are those who do not want Nigerians to enjoy the good things of life as they are now doing under the Buhari administration. In this interview with JOSEPH JIBUEZE, Sagay speaks on the state of the judiciary and what is being done with recovered funds, among other issues.

    President Muhammadu Buhari has blamed the judiciary for frustrating corruption cases. How would you assess the judiciary ahead of the new legal year?

    Let me start by saying that the President was right. The judiciary, acting as presidential tribunals, was a disaster. They did many terrible things, particularly in 2007. That was a most shameless act at a high level, where they could open their eyes and write that a ballot paper without serial number is a valid ballot paper. It never happened anywhere in the world. That was most shameless. There have been a lot of improvements since then, even though we still have corrupt judges. There is no question about that – at all levels. But the level of corruption has gone down. There is an attempt to fall in with the spirit of the anti-corruption struggle that the Buhari administration has introduced.

    How do you mean?

    I always say that the Chief Justice’s directive that special courts should be designated by Chief Judges of various courts in the country for corruption cases only, and the establishment of a monitoring group, are very excellent ideas. They were ideas we were pursuing for which we were not successful because the National Assembly to whom we sent the bills refused to consider them. But the Chief Justice did it administratively and they’re operating and doing very well. You heard recently that two former governors were sentenced to lengthy imprisonments and it was by one of these courts. So, I’m encouraged by that. But, we’re still watching the Judiciary. Everything is not perfect yet. We’re still far away from the type of Judiciary we had, particularly the type of Supreme Court we had when Eso, Oputa, Mohammed Bello, Obaseki, Karibi-Whyte, Nnamani were there. Then we had the best Supreme Court in the world. It has dropped sharply since then. So, we are nowhere near there. And I keep telling the present crop of judges, including the Supreme Court justices who are all my juniors, that they should aspire to what we had before. They’re not there yet and I want to see them positively aspiring to that.

    Some have said the holidays judges enjoy are too long – from July to September, in addition to Easter and Christmas vacations. In view of court congestion, would you recommend a reduction? 

    I have a slightly different opinion. The work of a judge is very, very demanding, mentally and extremely demanding. They have to do a lot of reading to write a single judgment, and do a lot of analysis, and after that begin to crunch their brains about where the law is, and not only law, where justice is leading them. So, if they have a two-month holiday, I don’t mind. My complaint against them is the callousness with which some judges – and many judges do it – will not sit and they will not tell you before hand. You come there prepared; you’ve given up the whole day just for the case, you’re in court and you’ll be told the judge had gone somewhere. The registrar would just tell you the judge had gone somewhere. That’s an insult on the lawyers and an insult on the people of this country, for a judge to just take off, and they have our phone numbers. Nobody will call you. That’s number one. Number two, their conferences are too many. One conference today, another one tomorrow – seminar in Dubai. There is too much laxity, a sort of I don’t care attitude about the sufferings of lawyers and their clients. I do not have the feeling that judges are concerned.

    Have you had a personal experience?

    When I was much younger, about 20 years ago, I went to the Court of Appeal, then presided over by the present Emir of Ilorin. I got there and they had pasted something at the gate, after I had left my office. So, I wrote a stinker to him, which he did not take well. He too wrote a stinker back and when next I appeared before the court they gave me hell in a case I was handling before them. But that’s not the right spirit. They were wrong. So, for me, what they should do is cut down on holidays, be more sensitive about their role in the society, and be more concerned about the fate of parties, who want their cases to end. They should also show more respect to lawyers, because when you leave the court without notice that you’re not going to be there and a lawyer comes, that’s an insult to that lawyer. You’re both lawyers for goodness sake. That you’re on the Bench doesn’t make you a different person. That lawyer can become a judge tomorrow. That is lack of respect! And it’s very bad.

    What else can be done to address delays?

    To conclude this part, because it’s a very important point you’re raising, the cases that are outstanding are so many. They go on for 10 years and yet are not concluded. There is need for them to be conscious of this. There is need for the government to provide recording equipment. If you go to London, where I have appeared several times as an expert witness on Nigerian law, the judge has a computer in front of him, and there is a lady who is recording in addition to the computer, and the judge is very relaxed because he is asking questions and not writing anything – very relaxed. At the end of the day, before you go, you get the proceedings. They just roll it out of the computer and you take it home. So, you can see that the judges are living longer; they’re fresher. The judges here have to take everything by hand. You say something, they’ll write. You have to wait for them, and speak very slowly because you know they can’t write at the rate at which you’re speaking. So, it takes a long time. There is strain; they suffer from all sorts of diseases – back diseases, brain diseases as a result. So, we must – there’s no choice – introduce recording equipment. That will hasten proceedings.

    Is a funding problem?

    Some courts too are not very honest. At times the vote is prepared and given to them to buy these equipment; they will not buy it. The next year, they will apply again for another vote on the same thing. That is also there. There are lots of problems. We just have to sit down and think of the people of this country; think of the service we’re delivering as one major arm of government and be proud of what we’re doing. As it is now, they cannot be proud. None of us is proud of what is happening now, because cases are taking so long. It’s scandalous. Some cases take over 20 years. The Supreme Court is so congested now that if you file an appeal, don’t expect it to be heard in five years. It’s not good. For me, it’s a failed system that is being run now. The Chief Justice, the National Judicial Council and all these top judges should meet and think of a way out. Maybe one other thing they can do to help them is to have clerks made up of young, brilliant law graduates attached to them to do their research and even write their preliminary judgments, which the judge will then go through and improve upon. But they need to get together and do something.

    What is your reaction to claims that the anti-graft war is selective, and that the focus seems to be on those in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)?

    No. The PDP was in power from 1999 to 2015. They were the ones who had access to Nigeria’s assets and resources. And they had an inclination and orientation of simply helping themselves to state assets without looking back. I mean, it was just a horrible thing. I’ll just give you one example. When they were there, they were fraudulently obtaining petroleum subsidy amounting to N380billion a year, saying they had supplied petroleum products, which they never supplied. You’ve seen all the recoveries that have been made. Look at what they did during the elections when Diezani brought her billions to bribe INEC officials all over the place, including Rivers State. That’s why I laugh when Wike says he has been elected. The Rivers State chief electoral officer was bribed. And she deliberately distorted that election and ensured that it was rigged in favour of Wike. A lot has happened since then. Our reserves dropped from over about $50billion to less than $2billion. They were spending money like water. In the last days, Jonathan was travelling round the West, dolling out huge amounts of dollars to Obas and so on. Look at the former National Security Adviser; look at the amount of money, just walking into Central Bank to take away $46million in sacks. It was so primitive and brazen. That is why they are the ones being prosecuted; because their impunity was so high that I don’t think it’s been experienced in this country before.

    Some still say the EFCC only goes after those in the PDP. They say for instance, Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom was accused of corruption after his defection to PDP. Consequently, the state’s account was frozen . To them, the EFCC is being used as a political tool. Are you worried about that?

    No, I’m not worried at all about that. There must be a good reason they went after him. I don’t have the details. But that man himself…I don’t want to say much. This is a man, who says today oh I’m going to PDP, tomorrow he says no I’m not going again. Then the third day he said I’m gone. And not that he went on his own volition. He said youths forced him… I mean, what sort of human being is that? Is he fit to be governor, a man who doesn’t have his own mind? So I don’t know what he’s done with security money.

    Critics said these issues didn’t come up while he was in APC…

    You’re right, but I can tell you one thing. The EFCC from what I know is investigating all former governors and keeping a tab on serving ones. It has their records, and progressively, given its capacity, one by one, they’re going to be called to answer. There’s nothing they can even do to him. He can’t be arrested. They can investigate him, put down the records of what they found, waiting for him to finish his tenure. Right now nobody can touch him. As for freezing Benue State’s account, I can’t support it. I don’t know why, but the government has to function. I don’t want people to suffer because there are no funds for basic government functions. I don’t know if they really did that; we have to be careful because it looks extreme to me.

    Some still wonder where all the huge recoveries made by the Federal Government are going. How is the money being spent?

    This issue has been explained again and again and again. This money, one, is being paid to the Central Bank, every kobo. This is Buhari’s government for goodness sake. This is not PDP. Every kobo is being paid to the Central Bank. And in the last two years, N1trillion has been withdrawn from it. For last year, N500billion was used to pay N5,000 each to the poorest households in this country based on the United Nations standards, which was scientifically followed, to get them out of nothingness. The Federal Government is feeding 10.5 million school children every day; children, who otherwise would not have had any nutritious meal. In fact, because of that, enrolment has gone up. Many parents are sending their children to school so that they can eat. It’s going to increase because not all states have joined. As a result, cooks have been given employment – a large number of cooks. Egg sellers all over the country are supplying eggs. Farmers are making sales. The multiplier effect has been tremendous. Young men, who have no skills are being trained and they’re paid N30,000 a month for the period of the training. A lot of young people, particularly women and young farmers, who need capital for their little businesses are being loaned N300,000 each without interest. All they need to do is to pay back the principal sum for their businesses to grow. That’s what the money is being used for. The money is not just being spent. It is budgeted for and approved by the National Assembly.

    What is your reaction to the Department of State Services (DSS) siege on the National Assembly, which prevented lawmakers from accessing it?

    It is most embarrassing. I was watching television when suddenly we saw DSS men blocking people from entering the National Assembly. My initial reaction was that this must have been ordered by the Presidency to avoid violence because we heard some people were going to invade the place. But I was shocked later to find out that there was no such directive; that in fact, it was the initiative of the DSS itself, which is totally illegal. They don’t have that power. They’re supposed to operate under the President’s directive. So, what they did was grossly illegal. They portrayed us in a very bad light, and shutting down parliament in effect. Parliament could be shut down in order to avert worse things. If  PDP and APC are going to exchange blows, destroy things and kill themselves, the place could be shut down. But that was not happening. What DSS did was unconstitutional, illegal, and was against the interest of Nigeria as a democratic country. And as soon as the Acting President got to know, he took immediate steps, ordered them out of the place, and of course, dismissed the head of the DSS for doing such a patently illegal thing.

    Nigerians have criticised the Buhari administration for not responding to the allegation that Finance Minister Mrs Kemi Adeosun skipped the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme and forged an exemption certificate. What do you think?

    Let me tell you this. I don’t know why the government has not reacted. But, let me tell you my reaction. This woman is a brilliant and extremely valuable member of this government. A lot of the good things happening now – the welfare that Nigerians are enjoying or are going to enjoy, because it takes time, and the way our economy is booming, how we got out of recession – are due to her expertise, her commitment, her sacrifice. There is nothing in this world that will make me remove such a woman from the government. The PDP can weep from now until there is no tear in their body; she is going to be there. We cannot afford to lose that woman.

    What about the allegation that she skipped Youth Service?

    Youth Service…Who cares about Youth Service? I don’t bloody care whether she did Youth Service or not. It is irrelevant as far as I am concerned.

    What about the allegation that she forged an exemption certificate?

    I don’t believe it. I don’t see anything serious about not doing Youth Service. I don’t see anything serious about it. That’s my own bias, not government’s. I’m telling you now. If you ask me – if I were President Buhari, I would never, ever touch that woman because she’s damn good. The enemies of this government want to reduce his capacity to provide good governance by engaging in social media attacks and trying to get rid of her. It will not work.

    But the government is not reacting, don’t you see it as an issue?

    I don’t know why. Governance continues.

    But if the law says every Nigerian under 30 must serve their fatherland, isn’t it a violation of the law to skip NYSC? 

    I have nothing against anybody taking part in NYSC. Why not? That is what the law requires. What I am saying is that if, per chance, somebody for some reason misses it, that’s not the end of the world. I did not do NYSC; I graduated before it was introduced. And it hasn’t affected me negatively in any way. So, I’m not going to allow bad belle PDP-type to try to reduce the capacity of this government to do good things and bring welfare to the people of this country by removing a very valuable member of this government. Let me put it this way. I look at the whole picture. If you remove Adeosun from this government, it will adversely affect the government and, therefore, adversely affect the welfare and well-being being enjoyed by this country because of her work. So, I’m not going to allow a little quirk about NYSC to affect that greater value that she is rendering to this country. I am saying that if I were the President, I will not bat an eyelid over that. But that does not mean I am downplaying the importance of the NYSC. No. But I am not going to allow it upset the functioning of the government. Every rule has an exception. There is no rule that is absolute. There are many people in this  country today who didn’t do NYSC and they’re working one way or the other because they have a good reason for not serving.

    Another burning issue is whether Senator Bukola Saraki should relinquish his position as Senate president having defected from APC to PDP…

    As a matter of honour.

    Not as a matter of law?

    No, no, he’s not compelled by law to do so. He needs to be removed by two-thirds majority. But as a matter of honour. He got there because he was in APC even though he got there by subterfuge, which is typical of him. He got there in a cheeky, fraudulent manner. Nevertheless, for him to be removed, they need a vote of two-thirds, not of the Senate, but of those present and voting at a meeting. So, it doesn’t have to be everybody. It’s those who happen to be there. Once they meet the quorum of one-third, and he is there, he can be removed by two-thirds of that one-third.

    What is your message to Nigerians ahead of 2019 elections?

    Nigerians don’t appear to appreciate that they’re very lucky to have the present government; that they have a government that is totally committed to the welfare of this country. I think probably since the First Republic and perhaps during the Murtala Mohammed regime and of course, the first coming of Buhari, we’ve never had a government of this type where everybody is charged to sacrifice at little or no expense to the government for this country; where there is zero tolerance for corruption; zero tolerance for self-help; where you have a group of highly committed Nigerians, who are experts in their fields trying to raise us from the pit into which the PDP has pushed us.

    If we don’t allow this government to continue – I call it the government on the rescue – for four years at least, beyond 2019, then this country is doomed. We’re very lucky to have the team we have now. And it is in our own interest to support them to achieve the goals they have set for this country. I always say that if I were Buhari, I probably would have thrown in the towel out of anger. I’m short tempered when I see the way Nigerians are not showing appreciation for the good that is being done. Let us eliminate those, who benefited from corruption, and they’re many – the elite, people in our own class, they were the ones sharing the money. There was easy money. We need them to get back what we have lost and to build on that to begin to gradually move away from this status of underdevelopment.

    If you see all the projects – when did you go to the East last?  Enugu-Onitsha, the East-West Road, railways, the airports are being upgraded, so much is being done. Abuja has its own city rail. Then there’s a train from Abuja to Kaduna. There’s one from Lagos to Ibadan, virtually completed. They’re going to build one from Port Harcourt through the East to Maiduguri. There is so much going on under this government and they’re borrowing money for a change, and every kobo of it is accounted for. They’re borrowing and putting it in projects that will yield money eventually because we’re going to pay when we enter these trains. All these roads – some will be tolled, and the money will be gradually repatriated to the lenders. And the people of Nigeria will enjoy a high standard of living that we’ve never been used to.

    They’re trying to inculcate a culture of integrity and honour, where Nigerians will work hard for what they earn, not to go and steal, grab and loot as has been the case so far. So, if we miss this government, if there’s any mistake and it doesn’t come back in 2019, I say good luck to Nigerians.

  • Transparency International report not setback, says Osinbajo

    Transparency International report not setback, says Osinbajo

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday said the latest corruption perception index released by Transparency International should not in any way be seen as a setback for the country.

    According to him, it is an opportunity to continue building on the many successes that have already been recorded by the Muhammadu Buhari led administration in all the key sectors.

    He spoke on the theme: “The imperative of cooperation of arms of government in a democratic dispensation”, at the Dialogue of Organs of Government on Reform of Justice Sector and Campaign Against corruption, jointly organized by the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption and Federal Ministry of Justice.

    Osinbajo, who was represented at the event by the Deputy Chief of Staff, Ade Ipaye, insisted the administration is recording progress in the fight against corruption, noting that perception may indeed lag behind reality.

    He said: “This dialogue couldn’t have come at a better time because only recently, Transparency International released a report suggesting that Nigerian declined in the perception index for reasons which I will discuss shortly.

    “We are firmly of the view that real progress is being achieved in the fight against corruption in Nigeria, and perception may indeed lag behind reality. But as the saying goes, perception is sometimes stronger than reality, so we have to keep up the good fight, until the full effect of our efforts can be clearly seen and perceived.

    “In that regard, the ranking of Nigeria by the 2017 Transparency International Corruption Perception Index, released on February 21st, 2018, should not in any way be seen as a setback but rather as an opportunity to continue building on the many successes that have already been recorded by this government in all the key sectors.

    “It is also important to note that the main reason for Nigeria’s decline in the Transparency International 2017 Corruption Perception Index, is that Nigeria recorded a major drop in score on just one out of the nine international recognized indexes used by Transparency International, to ascertain perceived levels of public sector corruption from the perspective of experts and business people.

    “So the drop recorded was in just one out of the nine recognized indexes. The index in question scored Nigeria low on the economy intelligence unit country’s risk service with the decline from 37 points to 20. This is an index that analysis the risks of financial exposure in countries.

    “The question to be asked then is what changed so dramatically between 2016 and 2017? As we speak, the budget for 2018 is under public scrutiny at the National Assembly, the allocation and use of public funds is guided by the budget and represents one of the key areas of consultations and interaction between the two arms of government that is the executive and legislature.

    “The endless number of probes and the use of public funds going on both within the executive and the legislative arms, underscores the transparency of this government and its intention to ensure that funds are used for public purposes.

    “What sets Buhari’s leadership apart from others, is the prudent and transparent management of national resources. Thus, despite up to 60 percent drop in revenue, we have by stopping grand corruption, make highest capital spend in the history of Nigeria, in the sum of N1.3 trillion in 2017.

    “We have for the first time taken on the game changing infrastructure projects. So we are today building the Lagos-Kano standard gauge rail line beginning with the Lagos Ibadan segment. We are also building after 40 years, the Mambila Hydro Project, construction of the second Niger Bridge is ongoing daily, we have signed up for the Lagos-Calabar rail project, we are daily increasing power supply and once we conclude some strategic transmission project, we will see a truly significant and appreciable improvement in domestic and industrial power supply in Nigeria.

    “Also this government has given more to support the state governments than any other government since 1999. As of September2017, total support from excess crude account loan and budget support facility, excluding now the Paris Club refund, is in the order of N873.3 billion. If we add the Paris club refund, we would have disbursed N1.91 trillion to the states outside of their monthly allocations.

    “This government should be applauded for exercising restraint and discipline in its appointment of public servants. The number of appointed public servants pales in comparison to the number of civil servants. The process of appointing public servants is also guided strictly by legislature.

    “This, the assessment of Transparency International inquiry into whether or not there is a professional civil service and whether large number of officials are directly appointed by government should have taken this into consideration.” he said.

    Osinbajo also said that the three arms of government will have to cooperate to be able to maintain a workable institution.

    He said, “And when this cooperation happens, it strengthens the democratic process, promote good governance and responsible leadership, promotes transparency and accountability in governance, assist the executive to be focused and committed to delivering good governance to the citizens and helps the legislature to make efficient laws that will promote good governance and curb corruption.”

    The Chairman of PACAC, Prof. Itse Sagay, said paying lip service to the fight against corruption ridicules the whole exercise.

    He said, “Fighting corruption cannot be lip service. You cannot be corrupt and be talking against corruption; it ridicules the whole exercise and the spirit of that struggle.

    “And so we should purge ourselves of corruption so that we can stand on firm ground to speak. Some might have been corrupt in the past but if you purge yourselves then you are welcome. It ridicules the whole process when we see people waxing lyrical on anti-corruption whereas behind them, they have huge load of assets and other things which they corruptly acquired.

    “So, collaboration and cooperation is essential because we need each other in order to succeed. But I think I will rather work alone than work with a corrupt person who is not sincere and is just making a fool of the whole country whilst preaching like a pastor about corruption,” he stated.

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  • Appeal Court verdict on Nganjiwa self-serving, tragic, says Sagay

    Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) Chairman Prof Itse Sagay (SAN) has described the Court of Appeal judgment striking out the charge against Justice Hyeladzira Nganjiwa as a “tragedy”.

    He said judges do not have immunity from prosecution for corruption.

    Sagay described the judgment as “a negative step”, adding that it was self-serving and not backed by the Constitution or any law.

    He disagreed with the Court of Appeal’s position that NJC must first discipline a judge before anti-graft agencies can step in.

    “That is purely self-interest, self-protection. There’s nowhere in the Constitution where that is stated.

    “Yes, there is provision for disciplinary measures by NJC over judges, but there’s nowhere in the Constitution that judges are given immunity from interrogation, arrest and prosecution.

    “Only the President, Governors, the Vice President and Deputy Governors are given immunity.

    “This is a creative judgment. In other words, the judges are making law, although they have no power to do that – taking over the power of the legislature in order to protect themselves from the consequences of their own misconduct. That’s what has happened. Judges are now a special breed of Nigerians.

    ““If you have a civil servant who can be interdicted in the civil service, is there any law that says he cannot be prosecuted? There’s no difference between a judge and a civil servant in this regard. They have their own internal cleansing system.

    “The NJC and the civil service have in-house provisions for dealing with their members. That does not affect the overall authority of the state. It’s contained both in the Constitution and in our criminal law.

    “So, what they have done is not in the law. It is a new law made by themselves. It is wrong because they have taken over the duties of the legislature.

    “It’s just to protect themselves from the consequences of misconduct and it’s a tragedy. And it’s an aspect of the underdevelopment of Nigeria and its rule of law process,” Sagay said.

    Sagay said the examples cited by the Court of Appeal about the Presidency setting up a panel to probe members of the executive before the EFCC stepped in, was inapplicable.

    “Those do not apply. The fact that the Presidency decided to set up a panel does not mean that EFCC could not have gone after them, at all. It doesn’t mean that. All the examples they have given are wrong.

    “There’s no example that can suspend the application of the Constitution and our criminal laws. None.

    “There are many occasions in which NJC was reluctant to discipline its men who have committed crimes, who have been corrupt or engaged in misconduct.

    “For instance, in the case of Justice (Adeniyi) Ademola, before he was arrested, he was cleared by the NJC. There are tens of such cases, which NJC turned down petitions in which there were concrete reasons to believe that they (the judges) did something wrong.

    “Are they saying the state should fold its arms and be looking on, because they’re reluctant to do the right thing?

    “I think the judgment is completely against the rule of law and it’s against our whole administration of criminal justice system, because it promotes a group of people above the law. And it’s a negative step,”

  • How the elite cause poverty in the North – Sagay

    How the elite cause poverty in the North – Sagay

    What led to Nigeria’s backwardness in spite of the nation’s huge wealth and potential was the topic of discussion at a re-union symposium organised by Hallmarks of Labour Foundation (HLF) in Lagos, Thursday. The event with the theme: Restoring a tolerant and value-driven society to Nigeria, was held at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) on Victoria Island.

    The lead speaker and chairman of Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Itse Sagay, linked the foundation of the country’s stagnation to disequilibrium among the geo-political zones, saying the ongoing call for restructuring was a timely reminder of the need for political re-organisation and true federalism.

    Sagay, in his two-part paper titled: Good governance and restructuring, disagreed with the view of the former Nigeria permanent representative to the United Nations (UN), Prof Ibrahim Gambari, who believed the development disparity and poverty rate between the North and South was as a result of inequality in school enrolment and childhood diseases which put the North at disadvantage compared to the South.

    Gambari was absent at the event, but his paper was read in parts by Sagay.

    The PACAC chairman described development challenges facing the North as self-inflicted, stressing that the leadership style of northern elite and traditional rulers caused to the region’s woes.

    Sagay said: “When the national campaign for immunisation of children against polio disease was on, the northern elite vigorously resisted the programme and falsely alleged that it was the European plot to curtail the fertility of northerners and to reduce their comparative population relative to the rest of the country. They even killed members of the team deployed to immunise their children.

    “The same belief applies to education. There is a culture in the North that encourages uncontrolled production of children without the accompanying commitment to send them to school. Instead, their children are abandoned and turned Almajiris.”

    In response to the question of poverty in the North, Sagay pointed out that the northern states draw more funds from the federation account compared to the whole of the South. He said the North has more local government and states than the South, wondering why poverty remained prominent in the North.

    He said: “It is the northern rulers and governing elite that are suppressing and oppressing their own people, preparing them for a life of poverty, disease and poor education. These are peculiarly northern problems and the North forms part of the Nigeria’s national conundrum.”

    Sagay said the current challenges facing the nation called for actions to promote good governance and restructuring. He noted that Nigeria took off as country with unique potential for accelerated development, adding that the First Republic politicians in all regions governed with honesty and commitment to common good.

    He, however, said the value of governance declined after the First Republic was aborted as a result of political intolerance, saying the nation became the caricature of poverty, destitution and suffering humanity.

    Sagay said the political elite is lacking in vision and integrity. He pointed particularly at the current Senate, which he described as a house of visionless and parasitic leaders who have no integrity. He said the prefix – Distinguished – attached to each senator’s name was undeserving and an abuse of the term.

    He said: “Our current ruling class, particularly the Senate, has no value, no honour, no vision, no integrity and no compassion for the suffering of the Nigerian masses. The attachment of ‘distinguished’ to their names is a horrible bastardisation and gross abuse of the use of that term. I reject it with contempt when anyone addresses with that unfortunate term.”

    Sagay, a professor of Constitutional Law, faulted the nation version of constitutional democracy, describing it as a un.

    itary system. He said the nation’s “inconsistent federalism” is subjecting the states to financial subordination of the Federal Government.

    He called for restructuring and enthronement of true federalism to make federating unit viable. He said opposition to restructuring is a fear of losing cheap money coming from the Niger Delta’s crude oil.

    Chief Economic Adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Prof Philip Asiodu, in his paper titled: Repositioning education in Nigeria for peace and development, said the Federal Government needed to restructure the education system to promote development.

    The event’s chief host and former Vice-Chancellor of University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID), Prof Umaru Shehu, HLF has made Nigeria a decent society by instilling values of patriotism and honesty in young people.

    The chairman of the occasion and former Secretary-General of Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, observed that there was need to return History as a compulsory subject in schools to enable the youth learn about the efforts of the nation’s founding fathers. He said the Foundation had produced 51 role models since its inception.

    Others dignitaries at the event included the Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, former Joint Admission and Matriculation Board Registrar, Prof Oladipo Akinkugbe, first woman Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Folake Solanke, former VC of University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof Oyewusi Ibidapo-Obe, and foremost geographer, Prof Akin Mabogunje, among others.

     

  • We will support media on anti-graft campaign – Sagay

    We will support media on anti-graft campaign – Sagay

    Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption has expressed its readiness to cooperate with the media in the fight against corruption.

    Prof. Itse Sagay, the chairman of the committee, gave the assurance at the 12th Annual Ramadan Symposium organised by the Muslim Media Practitioners of Nigeria on Saturday in Abuja.

    He advised the media to be more determined and focused in identifying and reporting corruption in the country.

    He also urged journalists not to be deterred, scarred or frustrated in exposing corrupt practice.

    Sagay also appealed to media outfits to give their employees a decent salary with a view to make them more ethical and professional.

    He emphasised the need for journalists to evolve the strategy and use of investigating journalism effectively.

    In his speech, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, former Chairman, Economic and Financial Crime Commission, said media practitioners had a great role to play in the ongoing fight to emancipate the country from corruption.

    Ribadu, therefore, cautioned the media to continuously rise up and resist attempt to desecrate the country, insisting that the media should be up against corruption in all forms.

    Alhaji Abdur-Rahaman Balogun, the chairman of Muslim Media Practitioners of Nigeria, said the aim of the symposium was to support the ongoing anti-corruption crusade of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

    The theme of the symposium was “Anti-corruption: The Role of Media as a Change Agent.’’

  • Sani seeks dissolution of Sagay-led PACAC for incompetence

    Sani seeks dissolution of Sagay-led PACAC for incompetence

    The Chairman of Senate Adhoc Committee on Mounting Humanitarian Crisis in the North East, Senator Shehu Sani, on Thursday asked President Muhammadu Buhari to dissolve the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC).

    Sani, who spoke to journalists in Abuja following the suspension of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Engr. Babachir David Lawal, said President Buhari did not need a forum of advisers on corruption to effectively fight corruption.

    The Kaduna Central lawmaker noted that the suspension of Lawal is a clear indication that PACAC, which once defended the suspended SGF, is not competent to work in its capacity.

    Sani said, “President Muhammadu Buhari should as a matter of urgency dissolve his Presidential Advisory Council on Corruption. It is a moribund and irrelevant assemblage.

    “A Presidential Advisory Committee headed by a man who defended the SGF is without honour.

    “Professor Itse Sagay attacked me for my report on Presidential Initiative on North East (PINE); now that the President has taken steps in the direction of the committee report, I hope the Prof. will muster the courage to also attack the President.

    “The advisory committee was looking for corruption in Sokoto while it is there in shokoto.

    “It is sad that most of the mercenary forces hired to rubbish the integrity of the Senate committee and defend those indicted have suddenly lost their voice.’’

    Sani, who is also Chairman, Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, described as reprehensible “the fact that the humanitarian situation in the North East was made an industry where government officials and even NGOs profit from the suffering and the hardships of millions of victims.’’

    He lamented that while some people saw the millions of orphans and widows produced by the North East crisis as victims, others saw them as cash cows.

     

  • NDDC faults Sagay on allegation of wasting funds on vehicles

    NDDC faults Sagay on allegation of wasting funds on vehicles

    The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has faulted a legal icon, Prof. Itse Sagay, SAN, on allegation that the commission is wasting huge sums of money on vehicles.

    The Federal Government’s interventionist agency, Thursday in Port Harcourt, through its Head, Corporate Affairs, Chijioke Amu-Nnadi, declared that no such purchase was made since assumption of office on November 4, 2016 of the current governing board.

    Sagay, who is also the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, claimed that NDDC bought over seventy cars that included eight super Lexus that cost N70 million each and ten Toyota Landcruiser jeeps at N65 million each.

    Amu-Nnadi said: “It is a known fact that the Chairman, the distinguished Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN), the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Nsima Ekere, and the two Executive Directors (of NDDC) are still using their private vehicles, three months after assumption of duties.

    “The NDDC is only now in the process of acquiring work vehicles and it is adhering strictly to due process. The vehicles include five Toyota Prado jeeps, ten Toyota Hilux trucks, four Toyota Land cruiser jeeps, one Toyota Coaster bus and two Toyota Hiace buses.

    “The commission (NDDC) has just received the Due Process Compliance Certificate from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) and it is preparing the mandatory memo for the approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

    “We wish to restate that the current board and management of the NDDC are committed to making their transactions transparent, by adhering strictly to processes and procedures of government, as espoused in the board’s 4-R Initiative of restoring the commission’s core mandate, restructuring the balance sheet, reforming our processes and reaffirming a commitment to doing what is right and proper at all times in facilitating the sustainable development of the Niger Delta region.”

    Spokesman if the commission also disclosed that NDDC was partnering with the Bureau for Public Service Reforms (BPSR), Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and Open Government Partnership (OGP) to improve the commission’s governance systems, procurement and project implementation processes, in order to plug all loopholes and systematically eliminate all incidents of mismanagement and corruption.

    Amu-Nnadi stated that NDDC was always ready to open its books for audit, while also remaining committed to responding to all inquiries from well-meaning individuals and groups seeking clarification on rumours and possible false information.

    While asking for support from all stakeholders to enable the commission succeed in the ambitious task of reforms, the head of corporate affairs maintained that the new NDDC was evolving as a responsible public institution, stressing that members of the public should feel free to get authentic information on its activities, to avoid sensationalism.

  • Sagay: A corrupt judge commits crime against humanity

    Sagay: A corrupt judge commits crime against humanity

    • PACAC reviews activities one year after
    Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof Itse Sagay (SAN) on Monday came hard on those condemning the arrest of two Supreme Court justices and other judges by the Department of State Services (DSS), saying such critics ignore the implications of judicial corruption.
    According to him, it is as if a corrupt judge is committing a crime against humanity because he holds the power of life and death and is expected by the society to be above board.
    Sagay said where a society loses confidence in the judiciary, it would resort to self-help,
    He spoke in Abuja at a news conference by PACAC to review its activities since it was established last August by President Muhammadu Buhari.
    Sagay thinks many Nigerians do not appreciate the sincerity of the Federal Government’s anti-corruption battle, saying it was as if many preferred the old order, which he said would have turned Nigeria to country worse than Zimbabwe
    He said: “I think that those who have criticised the DSS and the manner the search was conducted or even criticized the whole idea of a search being conducted seem not to have looked at the implications of judicial corruption.
    “At the end of the day when there is corruption anywhere, who do you take the matter to? It is to the judge. The judge is the ultimate and in fact, the buck stops at his court. So, if that judge is complicit in the corruption then that is the end of the fight against corruption. That is the awful implication!
    “So, any judge who is corrupt is committing a crime – in fact, one can even say it’s a crime against humanity because it just destroys our confidence in a system which should sustain the state in law and order. It encourages people to resort to self-help because there is no hope in taking a matter to court.”
    Sagay said the judiciary became so corrupt that it endorsed violent elections in which thousands lost their lives.
    “Today, just to give an example, we have some sitting governors whom we all knew that they did not win an election. Because they killed their way into office, people are still dying in those states, for them to sustain themselves in that office.
    “Yet some courts at the highest level gave approval to the process that brought those people to what I would call their bloody seats on which they are sitting. These are some of the things we are talking about. If the judiciary is corrupt, the only body, the only arm of government that has the power of life and death over Nigerians, if they are corrupt, then it is frightening,” he said.
    Sagay believes many commentators ignored the monies allegedly found on the judges, saying: “The other thing that surprises me is that a lot of people have made commentaries criticising what has been happening and have ignored the outcome of these searches completely.
    “Isn’t it enough that billions of Naira were found in private residences? Don’t you associate these billions of Naira with the fact that your roads are in a state of disrepair, that your hospitals are under-equipped or ill-equipped, and that schools are dilapidated and that it affects your daily life? What of those in the public service today who cannot get salaries paid because all these monies came from the public purse?
    “The point I am making is that we seem to want to eat an omelet without breaking eggs; that is what Nigerians want. There are Nigerians who say ‘Ooh, we are suffering a lot of hardship since the Buhari government came and that we are better off under corruption’.
    “Isn’t that the most terrible thing for anybody to mouth, without considering what would have happened if Buhari had not come? If that had been the case, I don’t think that there would have been a country today; I think that Zimbabwe would have been better because this is a government that is operating on little or no budget because by the time they came in, what was existing had been squandered completely and shared among those now being defended with cries of ‘human rights’.
    “What I am saying is that it is very discouraging because if you are struggling for the masses of this country, for the welfare of Nigerians, for improvement of the standard of living and then you are not encouraged, the tendency is for you to give up. For people to prefer corruption to the integrity that we are seeing in government today is very shocking. And I can tell you that if I were in government, I would have been extremely discouraged.
    “We cannot have it both ways! We need the judiciary but we need an upright judiciary; without that, one arm of government would collapse, democracy would collapse. Let us think of the implication of what is going on. If we don’t put the judiciary right and we don’t have a judiciary in which we have confidence, a judiciary with integrity and honour, a judiciary with moral authority; then, we have no government and we have no democracy.”
    Sagay said it would have been unthinkable for the DSS to raid the homes of judges even under military rule when courts gave several verdicts against the government, all because of the high level of integrity the judges had.
    “You people remember the era of Justices Eso, Oputa, Aniagolu, Nnamani, Idigbe, Mohammed Bello, and Obaseki? Which DSS would have dared to even question any of those people? Nobody! No agency of government would have dared it. They gave a lot of their judgments against the military government. I can cite over 20 judgments which they gave against military government.
    “They gave a judgment against Buhari’s military government, saying he had no power to retire some people, the Manager of the Fire service in Lagos, Garba. It was held that his retirement (by the military regime) was illegal.
    “I can cite so many! There was also Ojukwu’s case and everybody knows that. It (Supreme Court) held that the powers that be, the military government could not engage in self-help by preventing Ojukwu from living in his father’s house. Ojukwu got judgment and instead of appealing, they went and threw him out.
    “Then, the Supreme Court held that for throwing him out and preventing him from accessing his father’s house, rather than appealing that judgment, they (military) are deprived of the right to come to this court.
    “That moral authority has crashed and therefore, having crashed, like a tree that has fallen, ants, lizards and all sorts of things can climb over it. You bring yourself down and then, whatever happens after that is your own fault.
    “The ordinary man like you and I could be guilty of corruption but a judge should never be guilty of corruption. Once a judge does that, he brings himself to our level and so, cannot complain if he is treated the same way that you and I are treated. That is what has happened. Let us be objective and be fair to this country with our commentary and not be narrow-minded,” Sagay said.
    PACAC Executive Secretary, Prof Bolaji Owasanoye said the arrested judges should be suspended while their trial lasts and until they clear their names.
    He noted that a member of the committee had to step down when serious allegations were made against him.
    Owasanoye said: “The National Judicial Council (NJC) did not suggest in their respond that they’re suspending the judges. But what should be the proper thing? The proper thing of course is for the judges to be suspended. The reason is because all over the world, if a judge is going to be appearing before a court on criminal charges, you ask yourself, is it appropriate for the judge to continue to sit in another respect?
    “I’m talking about best practices here. After all when other people are being tried, we argue that they should step down. We’re not talking of an administrative issue here; we’re talking about a crime. I think that the proper thing to do is actually for the judges to be given that charge to defend themselves.
    “In other climes, when a policy that somebody initiates does not even work well, they resign. David Cameron resigned simply because Britain voted to leave the European Union (Brexit). He didn’t do anything wrong.  Clearly, the honourable thing is for the NJC to give those judges an opportunity to go and defend themselves and then if they’re cleared they can take back their jobs strengthened.
    “Again, there are situations in which NJC has been investigating the judges behind the scene and technically has not allowed them to preside over cases, even though those allegations may not be criminal in nature. So is this not even much more sensitive and a more compelling reason to suspend them?”

    A PACAC member, Prof Femi Odekunle, said those faulting the judges’ arrest missed the point.

    “There are those who are making arguments that amount to shenanigans, to shield people. Corruption in the judiciary is not the same as corruption in the marketplace; the judiciary is the soul of our nation. Therefore, anything that could be done with it should be done.
    “Concerning the legality of whether the DSS has power to do what it did or not, we have evidence and it is even commonsensical to realize that corruption is a security issue by the nature of its volume, character and seriousness in Nigeria.
    “It is a security issue. Take the direct example, the Dasuki case; when people who were supposed to defend the territorial integrity of the country actually took the money meant to buy arms and ammunition and distributed it anyhow. Is that not a security issue? When you steal the money meant to build roads, accidents occur, people die. These constitute security issues.
    “My argument in papers I did before is that the DSS should, in training their staff, particularly the senior officers, ensure they have the perception to see corruption as a security issue,” he said.
    Another PACAC member, Prof Sadiq Radda, while justifying the judges’ arrest, said less emphasis should be laid on legal justice.
    He said: “Journalists should make it abundantly clear to all Nigerians that there is a world of difference between legal justice and social justice. What we seem to be emphasizing in Nigeria is legal justice; we use all technicalties, all the little rules and all the techniques of making sure that people go scot-free but we could as well look at the issue of social justice.
    “Social justice connotes that people who have been in government positions, have amassed wealth that is quite visible; therefore, there is need to develop methodologies to ensure that they are exposed such that those who aspire to be in such positions are discouraged. The less we rely on technicalties that’ll be to the detriment of the country, the better it would be for us all.”
    Another member, Prof Etannibi Alemika called for new standards of behavior, which he thinks should start at the level of the individual .
    “We must behave with an understanding of the philosophical foundation of the law because that is the only defence. We need to set new standards of behavior for our country; the law alone will not help us. The state should not be lawless but citizens should not also be lawless in order not to evoke the wrath of lawless state agencies,” he said.