The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Friday flayed the chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-Corruption (PACAC), Prof Itse Sagay, for allegedly concealing official corruption in the administration from President Muhammadu Buhari.
In a statement by the spokesman for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party said Prof Sagay, at his age and status, ought to be bold enough to tell President Buhari that corruption resides in the Presidential Villa and that a President who surrounds himself with corrupt persons as ministers, special advisers and confidants cannot fight corruption.
The PDP tasked Sagay to clear his conscience by using his position to ask President Buhari to answer Nigerians on the alleged siphoning of N9 trillion oil money through alleged shady contracts, under his watch, as detailed in the leaked NNPC memo.
The party further said that the PACAC chairman could take a face-saving measure by demanding an investigation into the alleged corruption in the handling of the N1.4 trillion oil subsidy involving the “cabal” in the Presidency and certain All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders, in addition to the reported “stealing” of over N1.1 trillion worth of crude under the President’s watch.
The statement said, “It is strange to many Nigerians that Prof. Sagay, as the Chairman of the anti-corruption committee, could not summon the boldness to ask President Buhari to order an investigation into allegations by the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, that the N500 billion meant for Social Investment Program was diverted to private purses.
“Furthermore, Prof. Sagay and President Buhari had been mute over the recent arrest of President Buhari’s confidant, Nasir Banu in the United Kingdom for alleged passport scam and money laundering, while allegedly ferrying stolen money to persons said to be close to the Buhari Presidency.
“Also, Prof. Sagay is yet to speak out on the recent arrest of a scammer, Abdulrauf Illyasu, who operates from within the Presidential Villa, and never said anything about the arrest of former aide to the First Lady as well as one Amina Mohammed, who openly confessed to fronting for persons close to the President for serial fraud, contract scams and looting of public resources.
“These and many more are corruption issues, which fall directly on the shoulders of the Buhari Presidency for which Nigerians expected Prof. Sagay and his committee to address.
“Prof. Sagay should therefore leave the former President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki and then House of Representatives Speaker, Hon Yakubu Dogara, alone and accept the fact that the Buhari Presidency cannot fight corruption because it swims in ocean of corruption.
“If anything, Nigerians are still aware of how the 8th National Assembly exposed corruption in the Buhari administration including issues of budget padding, alleged diversion of funds meant for the Internally Displaced Persons and stealing in revenue generating agencies”.
The main opposition party also asked that President Muhammadu Buhari leave the Eighth National Assembly out of his “failure to tame his fraudulent officials and curb the humongous corruption festering in his Presidency”.
Sagay had during the presentation of a report to the President on Thursday, said the government had recovered over N1 trillion from treasury looters in the last four years.
