‘Stop Addressing Senators As Distinguished, They Have No Honour And Integrity’ – Sagay Tells Nigerians

The Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Itse Sagay, has said that Nigerian senators should not be addressed as “distinguished” because they have “no honour, no vision, no integrity”.

Last week, Abdullahi Sabi, spokesman of the senate, came down hard on the senior lawyer, saying the federal government was losing many corruption cases because Sagay had failed in his advisory role.

But speaking in Lagos on Thursday, September 14, the professor of law said the attachment of “distinguished” to the names of the federal lawmakers is a “horrible bastardisation and gross abuse” of that term.

“Our current ruling class, particularly the senators has no value, no honour, no vision, no integrity, no compassion for the sufferings of fellow Nigerians,” he said.

“The attachment of ‘distinguished’ to their names is a horrible bastardisation and gross abuse of that term. Now, I reject it with contempt when anyone addresses me with that unfortunate term.”

He also expressed support for restructuring, saying “it is inconceivable for any state to grow with this type of structure that puts states on welfare benefits”.

‘Every Senator In Nigeria Earns N29m A month, N3bn Per Annum’ – Itse Sagay

“It is a known fact that some governors spend more time in Abuja than in their respective states and at the end of every month, the 36 honourable commissioners of all the states of the federation will assemble in a classroom at Abuja presided over by the federal minister of finance to share money in the Federation Account based on a formula no one really understands,” he said.

“This money comes from three major sources, oil money from Niger Delta, duty collection and VAT from Lagos state. After sharing, the commissioners will head back to their respective governors for allocation sharing based on what they consider priorities and wait for the next monthly allocation.”