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Tag: Sagay

  • Sagay: I didn’t support Alamieyeseigha’s extradition

    Sagay: I didn’t support Alamieyeseigha’s extradition

    Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) Chairman Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN) has debunked a claim that he supported the extradition of former Bayelsa State Governor, the late Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, to the united Kingdom (UK).

    He was reacting to an interview granted a newspaper by Publicity Secretary of the Pan-Yoruba sociology-cultural group, Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin.

    Sagay said contrary to Odumakin’s claim, he never supported the former governor’s extradition, and was only opposed to his manner of removal from office.

    “I wish to correct the false allegation he made against me with regard to former Governor Alamieyeseigha, namely that I supported his being extradited to the UK, because it goes to my character, an attribute which I regard as fundamental.

    “I was involved in Alamieyeseigha’s matter on two related areas, namely: (1) his illegal and gangster-like removal from the office of Governor and (2) whether he was entitled to immunity outside Nigeria as Governor of a state in Nigeria.

    “I was never involved in his trial for economic and financial crimes as alleged by Odumakin. So, the question of defending him for corruption does not arise. That was a criminal case handled by other lawyers, who I do not even remember.

    “Given my firm view that the former governor was entitled to immunity outside Nigeria and that he was illegally removed from office, I could not, in anyone’s wildest imagination, have supported his being extradited to London for trial.

    “In any case, he had already been tried and sentenced to imprisonment in Nigeria, and was entitled to plead ‘autrefoi convict’ (previously convicted) as provided in Section 36(9) of the Constitution, which prohibits double conviction for the same offence.

    “Until his sad passing away, I remained loyal as his former lawyer. Indeed, a few days to his passing away, I got a text message from him that he was coming to see me in Lagos. Sadly, that was never to be.

    “The false and vindictive accusation that I called for his extradition to the UK is a wicked and malicious lie cooked up by some opportunists, who just wanted to tarnish my image.”

  • APC wrong to attack Sagay

    SIR: It is almost unbelievable – the name – calling of Prof Itse Sagay by  some  APC ‘leaders’ or “stalwarts”.  Events recent and remote do not justify the abuse.  Never  in the political history of Nigeria – and I have been watching it  since the debacle of   1952 in the  then Western Regional House – has  one man stood out boldly, accusing, with figures and data, crooked politicians in Nigeria.  The loyalty of this man to Buhari and to the Nigerian nation is certainly not in doubt.  He is doing solo what the battalion of political appointees together, yes together, has not and may probably not do.  He calls and describes people as they are.  Sometime the naïve or lazy may not comprehend his language or stand his guts, yet he makes good impression on perceptive, reasonable Nigerians.  

    It is idle and fruitless to accuse Prof Sagay of disrespecting President Buhari.  The President, being what he is, will understand differently and better.

    By the way who is Mallam Bolaji Abdulahi?  Is it true he is the Publicity Secretary of the APC?  Has that party had any Publicity Secretary after the tenure of Lai Mohamed?  Where has he been while the political waters turned muddy?  Is he not generally regarded as the Publicity Secretary of his godfather the Senate President?  Who does he think Nigerians are?  Let him please keep his peace.

    As for the APC ‘National’ Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun, he has brought down his image by collaborating with Bolaji Abdulahi to impugn the integrity of the only man who tells it as it is.  Odigie’s body language does not show a man really committed to a change or to the tempo and ethos of the current administration.  Don’t be deceived – Nigerians, even in the remote parts know what is happening and can give correct assessment of the present political players.  Let these negative, unproductive people keep their peace.  I am not in politics, so are millions of Nigerians are not, but the truth must not be allowed to stand on its head.  Prof Sagay is certainly working for this administration and particularly for PMB.  Admitedly the professor talks loud and clear, but should that be enough to call him names when he labours for this country night and day?

     

    • Deji Fasuan MON; JP

    Ado Ekiti.

  • Sagay predicts victory in anti-corruption war

    Sagay predicts victory in anti-corruption war

    PRESIDENTIAL Advisory Committee Against Corruption Chairman Prof. Itse Sagay is optimistic that the Federal Government will win the fight against corruption.

    Sagay, who is also a constitutional lawyer, spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

    The Lagos-based lawyer’s comment came on the backdrop of Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Walter Onnoghen’s directive to judges to speed up trial of anti-corruption cases at an event marking the new legal year.

    Sagay, however, said the CJN should undertake in-depth study of judicial officers, with a view to fishing out “bad eggs”, so as to give the war against corruption the needed push to succeed.

    He noted that the war was multifaceted requiring thorough work and expressed optimism that the government would surmount every obstacle clogging the wheels of justice.

    The presidential aide: “We are very concerned about the judiciary because without them, we simply kiss the anti-corruption war goodbye; so we must have a competent judiciary otherwise, they will keep messing up corruption cases.

    “A number of judges take decisions and interfere with ongoing corruption cases, which in my view indicate their hostility for the anti-corruption war.

    “The government is very much aware of some of these practices but as you know, this is a law-abiding government, which believes so much in the rule of law and allows itself to be guided by it.

    “I am optimistic that government will achieve victory in its war against corruption; so for the new legal year, I urge the Chief Justice to look keenly at his officers and those who are found incompetent, should be eased out of the system,” the constitutional lawyer said.

    Also, the Second Vice President, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Onyekachi Ubani, called for concerted efforts to fast-track judicial process.

    According to Ubani, the new Legal year must be characterised by speedy justice delivery which is “lacking in the past years.”

  • FG to win anti-graft war – Sagay

    FG to win anti-graft war – Sagay

    The Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Itse Sagay, on Thursday expressed optimism that the Federal Government would win the ongoing fight against corruption.

    Sagay, who is a constitutional lawyer, said this in Lagos.

    He spoke on recent directive given by Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, to judges, asking them to ensure success of the anti-graft campaign.

    Sagay said the CJN should undertake in-depth study of judicial officers, with a view to fishing out “bad eggs” in order to give the war against corruption the needed push to succeed.

    He said the war was multifaceted requiring thorough work, and expressed optimism that the government would surmount every obstacle clogging the wheels of justice.

    “We are very concerned about the judiciary because without them, we simply kiss the anti- corruption war goodbye. So we must have a competent judiciary otherwise, they will keep messing up corruption cases.

    “A number of judges take decisions and interfere with ongoing corruption cases which in my view indicates their hostility for the anti- corruption war.

    “The government is very much aware of some of these practices but as you know, this is a law abiding government which believes so much in the rule of law and allows itself to be guided by it.

    “I am optimistic that government will achieve victory in its war against corruption; so for the new legal year, I urge the Chief Justice of Nigeria to look keenly at his officers and those who are found incompetent, should be eased out of the system.

    “More so, if we can get the National Assembly to pass the Special Criminal Court bill into an Act, then, it will be settled that only qualified judges with ‘established’ reputation for integrity, honour and honesty will be appointed there,” Sagay said.

  • DHQ right on IPOB’s declaration – Sagay

    DHQ right on IPOB’s declaration – Sagay

    The Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN) on Monday backed the military’s declaration of the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) as a “terrorist organisation.”

    Sagay said he agreed with the Defence Headquarters description of IPOB as a terror group although he was not sure if the military authorities complied with legal requirements before making the pronouncement.

    The PACAC chairman told our correspondent that IPOB has exhibited characteristics that justified the “terrorist organisation” tag.

    He said: “Whilst I’m not sure of the legal parameters of that declaration, in practice I agree. If you look at it, we were very lucky that this thing did not get out of hand.

    “They (IPOB) were coming in their thousands, establishing road blocks, bringing out Northerners – for what, I don’t know – to kill some of them? If that is allowed, then the country is finished. Then they burnt down a police station and killed a policeman.

    “For Christ sake, even if you want Biafra, you don’t have to be violent. If you look at the words that Kanu uses on the social media, how he has described our President and the rest of us as living in a zoo – abusive, violent, intemperate words – kill, kill, kill, all those in my view constitute in totally acts of terrorism in which they can push undiscerning youths into rage and violence which can be destructive.

    “You saw Moslems seeking protection in Port Harcourt. If you start killing Northerners and the North reacts, then we’ve had it.

    “I just thank God that the North is showing some maturity and some sense of restraint while this is being curbed. But we really need to curb IPOB otherwise they will turn this country into a tinderbox.”

    Sagay said he would not stop expressing his views on issues of national importance despite the Senate asking President Buhari to call him to order.

    When reminded that the All Progressives Congress (APC) also once cautioned him about his criticisms of the National Assembly, he described the party’s leadership as “a failure.”

    He said: “As for the leadership of the APC, I think they are the most unprincipled group of people. They are lily-livered, weak, and cannot run any organisation. The whole party is collapsing under them. They cannot control anybody.

    “In fact, they are now encouraging and accepting ‘rogue elephants,’ pampering people who are destroying the party, saying ‘let’s not annoy them too much,’ but they are destroying the APC house.

    “So, I think the APC leadership is weak, is too compromising and is certainly a failure as far as I’m concerned.”

    Sagay said the war against corruption cannot be won without committed judges.

    He accused some judges of “deliberately” sabotaging the crusade by obstructing justice.

     

  • How the elite cause poverty in the North, by Sagay

    How the elite cause poverty in the North, by 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, yesterday.

    The event has the theme: ”Restoring a tolerant and value-driven society to Nigeria”.

    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.

    He said 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’s 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 the development challenges facing the North as self-inflicted, stressing that the leadership style of northern elite and traditional rulers caused 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 said 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 areas 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 a country with unique potential for accelerated growth, 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 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 unitary system. He said the nation’s “inconsistent federalism” is subjecting the states to financial subordination of the Federal Government.

    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 growth.

    The event’s chief host and former Vice-Chancellor of University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID), Prof Umaru Shehu, said 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 Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka, 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.

  • 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.

     

  • Senate vs Sagay

    Our National Assembly members have demonstrated from the onset of the fourth republic that their loyalty was to their members rather than to the nation as some of them tactlessly announced that they were in a hurry to recoup their investments having sold their properties to contest the election. It was therefore obvious that a total package of about N20m for senators and N18m for members of the lower house approved by Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission was not going to be adequate for the needs, let alone the greed of our lawmakers

    It was not long before they went ahead to appropriate about N159b for themselves and in spite of public indignation refused to subject its disbursement to public scrutiny. Not satisfied, they openly demanded bribes from Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) or opted to hijack their projects as was the case with contracts for the rural electrification projects which were awarded to some fictitious companies owned by the lawmakers. Ministerial nominees were also forced to part with huge sums of money before confirmation. Haunted by financial scandals, The Punch in an editorial titled “Time to tame greedy and reckless National Assembly” in its edition of February 1, 2016, said: “By their greed, corruption, opaqueness, insensitivity and monumental incompetence, parliamentarians, since 1999, have stunted the entrenchment of democracy and atrophied development”.

    Our self-serving lawmakers have little regard for public opinion. Their collective response to critics of their financial recklessness until the latest call for restructuring as a possible solution, has always been the same – attack the messenger in order to divert attention from the message. Not even Obasanjo, whom they mischievously call their father, is spared whenever the issue of their financial recklessness is raised. He narrowly escaped impeachment in 2000 and 2005 for standing between his ‘children’ and their criminal padding of the budget sometimes with as much as N600b. Obasanjo has continued to refer to corrupt members of the National Assembly as ‘armed robbers’.

    Lamido Sanusi, the then CBN governor following his submission during a 2013 lecture he delivered at Igbinedion University where he had said cornering of N136.26b or 25.44% of government overhead by the National Assembly was unhealthy for the economy suffered the same fate. Ndoma –Egba, the then Deputy Senate Leader (now stalwart of APC) did not only dismiss Sanusis’s remarks as ‘a calculated attempt to bring the National Assembly to disrepute and a plot to incite the public against us”, he moved a motion that he along with his Minister of Finance, be summoned to defend themselves before the chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, Iyiola Omisore, currently repaying about N1b he, according to EFCC, fraudulently received from Dazuki, ex-President Jonathan’s National Security Adviser(NSA), to fight the Osun 2014 gubernatorial election.

    But confronted last week with N14m and N8m as monthly take-home pay for senators and their lower house counterparts, figures Channels TV claimed it obtained exclusively, Senator Aliyu Abdullahi,  the chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, changed the narrative. He now says – “For us in the National Assembly, the question that needs to be asked is “what the cost of having democracy is and what is the cost of not having democracy?”

    Unfortunately, Senator Abdullahi and the insensitive lawmakers he speaks for, have sustained their war against our people especially the most vulnerable 112 million who live below poverty line because they rightly believe all of us suffer from collective amnesia. But nothing can be more humiliating than Abdulahi’s claim that the greed and financial recklessness of our lawmakers are in pursuit of democratic ethos.

    Realising that our legislators are beyond reproach, Sagay, who recently spoke at the Wole Soyinka Annual Public Lecture at the University of Benin, had called for urgent restructuring of the nation into regions and return to the 1963 Constitution, modified to suit our present circumstances as the only way to stop the bumper pay being received by the senators.  He insisted that from information at his disposal, “a Nigerian Senator earns about N29 million a month and over N3 billion a year”. He went on to state how he arrived at his figures:  “Basic salary N2,484,245.50; hardship allowance, N1,242, 122.70; constituency allowance N4, 968, 509.00; furniture allowance N7, 452, 736.50; newspaper allowance N1, 242, 122.70; N1,863,184.12; entertainment N828,081.83; personal assistant N621,061.37; vehicle maintenance allowance N1,863,184.12; leave allowance N248,424.55; severance gratuity N7, 425,736.50; and motor vehicle allowance N9, 936,982.00.”

    Sagay also added ”Wardrobe allowance N621, 061.37; recess allowance N248, 424.55″.  “These are besides budget padding, which is a stable means of drilling money from the poor people of this nation. If you have true federalism, that money will not be available for them to blow”, Sagay concluded.

    All that was needed to invalidate Sagay’s figures which the lawmakers claimed were based on beer parlour a rumour was to confirm or deny if those headings exist and if they do how much was allocated to each heading. But they substituted that simple procedure with attack on Sagay’s person. After falsely accusing him of employing ‘uncouth, unprintable words’ and of ’hate speech, they deployed ‘love’ words like “senile, jaded, rustic and out-dated” to describe noble Professor Sagay.

    Sagay should take solace. I can assure Professor Sagay that the inimitable Victor Olabisi Onabanjo of Aiyekoto fame who often laced his bitter truth with humour can even from his grave see the purity of his heart and the nobility of his intentions.

    And what would have been Onabanjo’s response to the Senate’s unwarranted virulent attack on Sagay’s person? He would have simply admonished those who live in glass houses not to throw stones by asking – Are we speaking of the same house who, Gabriel Suswan, recently governor of Benue and who as two terms member of the Lower House authoritatively declared that of the unwieldy 360 members of the house, only 20% that contribute to discussions at plenaries are literate?

    He would have in addition reminded our lawmakers that it was not Sagay but a distinguished and respectable member of the Senate that likened the behaviour of one of their cantankerous member to a dog, thug and tout. Was it not in one of these hallowed chambers turned-house of comedy where a member who a probe confirmed obtained a third class degree from our local university after falsely claiming to be an alumni of many prestigious universities across the world, celebrated his achievement by adorning himself with an academic gown reserved for only those who earned doctoral degrees?

    Aiyekoto would have also reminded us that we find those who “talks like a man who is constantly under the influence of some substance or who are constantly agitated” in a house that harbours alleged drug pushers or those facing EFCC charges for financial malfeasance or earning two salaries in the guise of pensions when the real pensioners are dying on the queue after a lifelong service to their father land.

    I am only guessing what Aiyekoto (the world hates the truth) would have said in the face of an unprovoked attack on a patriot by indecent people some of who should be behind bars.

  • Senate to Buhari: call Sagay to order

    THE Senate yesterday asked President Muhammadu Buhari to rein in the Chairman of the Presidential Action Committee on Anti-Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Itse Sagay.

    The upper chamber accused the PACAC boss of spreading falsehood and making hate speeches against the National Assembly.

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi levelled the allegation in Abuja yesterday.

    The Senate spokesperson, in a statement, noted that Sagay was fond of using every opportunity he has to make public speeches to disparage the Federal legislature and the legislators.

    He said Sagay had been one of the few divisive elements in the Buhari administration, who believe their relevance is enhanced only when they create constant tension between the legislature and the executive while also setting members of the executives against each other.

    Abdullahi noted that the legislators had ignored past statements made by the professor of law.

    He, however, criticised Sagay’s speech at a public lecture in Lagos organised by the Society of International Law, where the PACAC boss allegedly gave false details about the salary and allowances of the legislators and the various bills passed.

    The Senate spokesman said the statement bordered on inciting members of the public against the legislators and deliberately circulating hate speech, which the government is working hard to contain.

    Abdullahi said: “As an academic, whose creed should be to find facts and make comments based on truth, we believe that Sagay should stop spreading beer parlour rumours about the salaries and allowances of legislators, when he could simply get the facts from the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation Commission (RMFAC), which is the body constitutionally charged with the responsibility of fixing salaries and allowances of all public officials.

    “Let us make it clear that our salaries and allowances are open books and the details can be taken from the RMFAC by any interested party…

    “Sagay could not even check the records before proclaiming that ‘the National Assembly has not passed a single bill for the promotion of anti-corruption war since it commenced business in July 2015′. First, the 8th National Assembly was inaugurated on June 9, 2015 not July. Also, it is on record that the Senate has passed the Whistle Blowers’ Protection Bill, Witness Protection Bill, Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Bill and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Agency Bill.”

    The Senate, therefore, called on the President to caution Sagay and stop him from further creating tension in the relationship between the executive and the legislature.

  • Bank chiefs to be tried for aiding corruption – Sagay

    Bank chiefs to be tried for aiding corruption – Sagay

    The Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Itse Sagay, said on Tuesday the body would push for the prosecution of bank chiefs who connived with looters to move and hide stolen funds.

    He said the “monstrous epidemic of high profile corruption” could not have afflicted Nigeria without bankers’ collusion.

    “They must not get away with it.

    “In my own little way, we are going to push for the prosecution of such bank chiefs. They must be prosecuted,” Sagay said.

    He said the legislature, senior lawyers, especial Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), and some “hostile and powerful judges” work against efforts to rid the country of corruption.

    “There is a gang up of the powerful political, business and banking elite that is determined to frustrate the anti-corruption struggle,” he said.

    The PACAC chairman delivered a public lecture in Lagos on the topic: The many afflictions of anti-corruption crusade in Nigeria. It was organised by the Nigerian Society of International Law.

    Sagay said the National Assembly comprises self-serving lawmakers who allocated N125billion to themselves alone this year.

    He said while the United States President earns $400,000 per annum, a Nigerian senator earns over $1.7million.

    Sagay said beside a basic salary of N2.4million per month, they earn allowances such as hardship (50 per cent of basic salary), newspaper allowance (50 per cent), wardrobe allowance (25 per cent), entertainment (30 per cent), recess (10 per cent), and leave (10 per cent), among others.

    The total allowances, he said, amounts to N29.5million per month and N3.2billion per annum.

    “Perhaps the most notorious example of the legislators’ resistance to the war against corruption is the rejection of the right of the executive to choose the persons who will spearhead that struggle.

    “The clear impression is created that Nigerian legislators are in office for themselves and not for the populace.

    “Not surprisingly, the National Assembly has not passed a single bill for the promotion of anti-corruption war since it commenced business in July 2015. The Whistle Blowers Protection Bill, the Proceeds of Crime Bill and the Special Criminal Court Bill remain in a virtual state of stagnation.

    “What evidence do we need to establish the hostility of the eighth Assembly to the anti-corruption war?” Sagay said.