When President Mohammadu Buhari appointed Itse Sagay as the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) on August 10, 2015, the assignment given to it was clearly stated.
The PACAC was formed out of the necessity to advise President Buhari and his administration on the best way to prosecute the war against corruption and implementation of required reforms in the Nigerian criminal justice system. Also expected of the Sagay led Committee is the development of comprehensive intervention strategies to achieve its recommended reforms.
It must be noted that the civil rights activist is not alone in the advisory committee. Other members of the Committee are prominent experts in their respective professional fields.
Also announced by the federal government in support of this effort was a $5 million Anti-Corruption and Criminal Justice Reform Fund that was established by three international development partners. An implication of these is that PACAC is imbued with the political will as well as the required fund to effectively carry out its assignment.
This said, it will not be out of place to advice the committee to focus on its mandate. Professor Sagay should be wary of abandoning his committee’s job for political meddlesomeness because he should also realize that the job given to him is not about casting aspersions on individuals and national institutions.
The PACAC Chairman recently vented his moral anger on the trio of Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, the National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Bukola Saraki, the Senate President and Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, the Speaker House of Representatives.
Itse Sagay particularly came down heavily on Chief Oyegun by describing him as a failure in piloting the affairs of the ruling party. He condemned Oyegun for bringing nothing other than disaster to the ruling party. This is no doubt the expressed personal view of Sagay, however, the question is if his moral pontification has anything to do with the national assignment given to him.
The Law Professor had likewise accused Oyegun of turning the Senate president, Dr. Bukola Saraki and Speaker House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara into ‘monsters’. He further said the emergence of the duo as Senate President and Speaker respectively against the party’s directives was supposed to have earned them severe sanctions.
The question for Sagay once again is if passing judgement on the performance or failure of Oyegun is part of his national assignment to which fund is being committed.
Sagay even went full blast in his new found roles of criticising, passing moral judgement and meting out deserved sanctions thus: “When a person, against the party’s primary goes to contest as Senate President and another one contrary to the party’s primary contests as Speaker of the House of Representatives, that is gross indiscipline and people like that should be punished and the punishment is suspension and possibly, expulsion from the party.
“That did not happen under Oyegun. Rather, he was cuddling, befriending and appeasing them, thereby allowing them to become monsters. The result now is that the National Assembly is the official opposition of this government; all that is created by Oyegun’s appeasement”.
Again, does this have anything to do with the reference terms of the national assignment given to Itse Sagay. Truth is that he seems to be getting fascinated with politics.
Lately, the man has taken up the job of campaigning for President Buhari in the run up to 2019 election. Sagay told the nation that the president would re-enact the firmness and decisiveness of 1984 when re-elected next year.
He had even said the reason for this was because Nigerians were suffering from gross indiscipline from the ruling elites. “I think that is what Nigerians should expect because this country is suffering from gross indiscipline of the ruling elites. We have seen a whole lot of impunity in the system” said Sagay.
Although the PACAC Chairman had spoken smartly by making it clear that he was yet to consult with President Buhari on the matter. In the words of Sagay, “It is not that I have consulted him but I believe that his second coming will see a firmer, stronger type of leadership, a bit closer to what he was in 1984”.
Sagay has likewise been holding brief for the APC led government of President Buhari. He could also be adjudged to be doing well in functioning as the unofficial spokesperson of the government. “This government has gone through extreme difficulty to keep Nigeria afloat. However, that era is coming to an end and an era of prosperity is coming. So, one is really looking forward to the second term of Buhari and Osinbajo.”
It is imperative that PACAC purges itself of the inclined mentality of partisan politics and concentrate on the national assignment given to the committee. Nigerians are itching to see the impacts of its contributions to the fight against corruption. The long suffering masses of this country as well as posterity could only be indebted to PACAC if it would please get down to work and lend its intellectual powers to giving the monster of corruption a bleeding nose.
Ibrahim Yahaya can be reached at: [email protected]
