The row between the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN) and the National Assembly is far from being over as he (Sagay) has again lashed out at the National Assembly describing them as “a merciless and ruthless organisation” with no value.
TheNewsGuru.com reports that Sagay made remarks at the Hallmarks of Labncour Foundation Reunion Symposium held at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, NIIA, Victoria Island, Lagos, on Thursday.
TheNewsGuru.com reports that Sagay recently lambasted the lawmakers over what he described as their ‘outrageous allowances.’
Speaking in Lagos on Thursday, Sagay said Nigerian senators should not be addressed as “distinguished” because they have no honour, vision, and integrity.
Sagay noted that the senators were simply out to ”totally suck out the blood of Nigeria for themselves because they behave like locusts.”
“They have no mercy, they have no conscience; they simply want to behave like locust just to finish everything within their environment for themselves. That’s totally unacceptable and I’m not going to relent on this thing (criticism),” he said.
“Look at the allowance they take, forget the amount. Why would a whole Senator collect money for his wardrobe? Is he naked? Does a labourer, who is taking just N18,000 a month, get it? He’s the one who needs the money for wardrobe allowance.
“But these opulent, rich, super-rich people are still collecting from you and me to clothe themselves; they’re collecting money from you and me to buy newspapers; they said they’re suffering hardship by working inside chambers that are fully air-conditioned with luxurious cushions, with people serving them left, right and centre, with food and drinks available.”
According to him, government ”could distribute the loot that constitutes these allowances among poor Nigerians.”
He said: “If you ask them what is their income they will tell you they’re earning a salary which is taxable, which is very little – about one to two million (Naira) a month.
“They will never talk about those allowances which bring their income into tens of millions. We haven’t come near what senators and House of Representatives people are really taking.
“We are talking about allowances; there are many other secret things that they are taking that have not been exposed. If you go to that gentleman (Abdulmumin Jibrin) who was suspended from the House of Representatives last year, he has a huge story to tell of the billions that nobody knows about that they’re collecting. So there will be no rest until there is justice.”
TheNewsGuru.com recalls that Abdullahi Sabi, the spokesperson of the Nigerian senate, had criticised the utterances of the lawyer, stressing that the Nigerian government lost many corruption cases due to Sagay’s failure to function properly as the government’s anti-corruption adviser.
TheNewsGuru.com reports that the National Assembly is yet to react to Sagay’s latest outburst against them.