The Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee on Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay, is a man whom many had a lot of respect for. However, since joining the government, he has changed and lost some respect among his admirers. Assistant Editor, CHINWE MADUAGWU, reports his metamorphosis.
Foremost constitutional lawyer, Prof. Itse Sagay, is without doubt suited for the job of the Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee on Corruption. A man known to be very cerebral, his capability to function in that position cannot be doubted. His antecedents, point to that.
A former Dean of the Faculty of Law at both Obafemi-Awolowo University and University of Benin, Prof. Sagay is an authority on Constitutional Law as well as International Law.
He is also not a stranger to civil and human rights activism. He was at some point a vocal and active member of the community of human rights activists. He fought for the people, spoke for them and stood for them.
However, his utterances or actions and inactions, in recent times, are fast proving that he has become a different person.
A case in point is his position on the alleged forgery of the National Youth Service Corps exemption certificate by the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun.
In fact, for Prof. Sagay, activism began in his days as a lecturer. He was a part of the struggle for the battle to de-annul the 12, 1993 election, said to have been won by the late MKO Abiola. He was very vocal about his views against the then military government of the late General Sani Abacha, which led him into trouble with the regime at the time.
At some point, he was banned from travelling abroad as his passport was seized by the State Security Services (SSS), and for six months, he had to report to their Ikoyi, Lagos, headquarters for interrogation over his alleged ties with NADECO and other democracy activists such as the late Beko Ransome-Kuti and the late Gani Fawehinmi, among others.
Needless to say that he has always been on the side of the fight against corruption and would condemn without equivocation, any threat to the nation’s democracy, be it under a military or civilian leader.
Hence, when the National Assembly came under police attack during President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, he did not mince words in condemning both the police and the then President. Then, the police had locked the gates of the National Assembly against the Speaker of the House, Aminu Tambuwal, and some legislators who wanted to gain entrance.
Some of the lawmakers and their aides were tear-gassed by the security operatives in the process before they could gain entrance.
Reacting to that incident, Prof. Sagay described the action of the police as portending a great danger to Nigeria’s democracy.
He was quoted as saying: “What transpired today at the National Assembly portends a great danger to Nigeria’s democracy.
“For the police to have attacked the legislature, which is the second arm of government, such an attack must have been sanctioned from above.”
Sagay advised security operatives to maintain neutrality at all times, adding that they had no constitutional powers to interfere with legislative processes. He also warned those in power not to throw away Nigeria’s hard won democracy because of inordinate ambitions and selfish interests.
Prof. Itse Sagay fought against corruption. Perhaps, it was his activism that led him to join the All Progressives Congress (APC), which as at the time he joined, was in opposition preaching the gospel against corruption.
Today, he is an active participant in governance and a card carrying member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
While accepting to chair the Presidential Advisory Committee on Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay expressed the determination of the committee members to do their work diligently and be responsible to the Nigerian people.
As expected, the announcement that he would chair the committee and his acceptance didn’t go down well with some people who felt it was compensation for his support and campaign for Buhari. Others also felt that being in the corridors of power would impinge on his integrity and ability to be dispassionate or unbiased in fighting corruption.
But he did not see things in that regard as his response to his critics was to say he was not bothered by such criticism.
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“Nothing surprises me. Those who are making the criticism are low-minded people. I don’t bother myself about them. These are people one has to rise above. These are people whom institutions are being set up to curtail their activities. These are people with no integrity. They are low-minded with no moral integrity,” he said.
And so he took the job.
Whether, Prof. Sagay cares or not, it is a fact, proven by his actions and words that his romance with power has changed him and the change has not gone unnoticed. His silence over the siege to the residences of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, his Deputy, Ike Ekweremadu and the National Assembly by security operatives recently as well as the attempt to impeach the Benue State Governor have spoken volumes.
When a similar incident took place during Jonathan’s administration, he did not need any promptings before roundly condemning the government.
However, the shocker for his many admirers was his recent comments on the Finance Minister’s allegedly forged NYSC Exemption Certificate , which has been raising a lot of dust since the story broke.
Reacting on the issue in an interview he said; “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 and 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.
“Who cares about youth service? I don’t bloody care whether she did youth service or not. It’s irrelevant as far as I am concerned.
“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.
“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,” he said, adding that “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.”
What logic and coming from a man of Sagay’s calibre is this?
Executive Director, Media Rights Agenda, Mr. Edetaen Ojo, expressed his disappointment with Prof. Sagay and his position on the matter.
“I am disappointed by Prof. Itse Sagay’s comments on the Kemi Adeosun NYSC discharge certificate issue. I think it is unhelpful to the anti-corruption war and damages his credibility. It is unhelpful to the anti-corruption war because it lends credence to the perception that you become a target for investigation and prosecution only if you are on the wrong side of the political divide and that your criminal acts can be overlooked if you are on the right side.
“The issue against Kemi Adeosun was not just that she did not serve in the NYSC programme but also that she forged and presented an NYSC Exemption Certificate. These are criminal offences and cannot be waived away simply because she is purporting to be fighting corruption. Indeed, if these allegations are true and she is fighting corruption with such a history, she will be impeding rather than assisting the war against corruption because you need to be able to stand on a moral pedestal in fighting corruption, which you cannot do when you have such a stain on your own record.
“Additionally, with such a record, not only will her purported fight against corruption lack credibility, she would also obviously have been exposed and subjected to blackmail, which reports indicate to have been the case for some years. How can such a situation be helpful for the war against corruption? If Prof. Sagay cannot appreciate these elementary facts and realities, then we need to be concerned about his own judgment and analysis of some of the more complex issues that he is bound to deal with as he sits atop a president advisory committee against corruption.
“So, I was sadly disappointed by his comments because he is a man for whom I have had a lot of respect for over many years, except for a brief period when he similarly exhibited a lapse in judgment over allegations of corruption surrounding the now late former Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha of Bayelsa State,” Mr. Ojo said.
Mr. Tony Opara, without mincing words, summed up his thoughts on Prof. Sagay thus: “Sagay is a disgrace. His comment is an insult to all of us who served.”
Prof. Sagay may not be looking for silver and gold, or maybe he is, but now would probably be a good time for him to rethink the path he is presently treading and retrace his steps if he wishes to salvage whatever is left of his integrity.
According to Chinua Achebe, one of Nigeria’s greatest writers, “the truest test of integrity is its blunt refusal to be compromised.”
But would he? He seems to be enmeshed in his current beliefs, which have proved to be contrary to what made him popular among Nigerians who cherish integrity.
