Stop ridiculing the Senate, Anambra PDP chief tells Sagay

A founding mem­ber of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Anam­bra State and Biafran war veteran, Chief Joe Ifediobi aka Okosisi Akpo has cau­tioned the Chairman, Presi­dential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof Itse Sagay against embarrass­ing the Senate.

Sagay had severally vili­fied the Senate for summon­ing him to appear before it over his comments on some burning national issues. But the professor of law rebuffed the lawmakers, declaring that they lacked the power to invite him.

In a reaction to Sagay’s re­lentless attacks on the Upper Chamber, Ifediobi, a promi­nent Anambra son and elder citizen wondered why the le­gal icon should be denigrat­ing the Senate.

He said that he was disap­pointed by the utterances of Sagay seen as a distinguished legal scholar, professor of Law and human rights activ­ist and a constitutional law expert and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) to cap it all.

The PDP chief warned eminent Nigerians who should know better to stop denigrating and embarrass­ing the Senate.

Ifediobi said that any move to make the Senate act against its Standing Rules could impede democracy in the country.

He remarked that the ul­timatum given to the Senate by some Nigerians without clean records in their profile sounds hollow and baseless.

The prominent politician pointed out that the Attor­ney-General of the Federa­tion and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami and the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col Hameed Ali, had no right to question the Senate on whatever rules it wants to apply in the con­duct of its activities.

Ifediobi queried why Ali should not wear the rank he enjoys the emoluments of when there were precedents and urged President Mu­hammadu Buhari to sack some of his appointees at war with the Senate.

According to him, nobody can blame the Senate for whatever action it takes once it is constitutional, stressing that ,”whatever the Senate has said so far in corruption and others were in order.

“…Look at Itse Sagay ask­ing the President to ignore the Senate that they are be­ing childish just because in Nigeria records are not checked, he has forgotten how he was sent away from the university. Let all those accusing the Senate wrongly stop…’’

On the Acting Econom­ic and Financial Crimes (EFCC) Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, Ifediobi insisted that there was no such provision in the EFCC Act and won­dered why the Senate should be ambushed and black­mailed even when it was act­ing on its order.-The Authority