The Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, PACAC, Itse Sagay, on Thursday, said he is never impressed by the Senate of the 8th National Assembly, adding that the upper chamber “is probably the worst we have ever had since the return to civilian rule.”
According to him, the senior legislators are more concerned about exercising vain authority and power than in actually doing anything substantive for the country.
Speaking with the Nations newspaper, Mr Sagay, a professor and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, faulted the lawmakers’ insistence on the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris’s personal appearance before them, adding that such move smacked of personal vendetta against the IGP.
“These are people – the whole Senate – who would adjourn sitting and go to the Code of Conduct Tribunal in solidarity with their President. For everyday they go, the work of legislation is suspended. And they owe a duty to this country to make the laws for the order, peace and good government of Nigeria.
“Each time they abandon their legislative duties, they’re in fact committing a breach of their obligation, apart from the fact that doing that sort of thing is infantile.
“As if that was not enough, the whole Senate packed themselves again to visit Dino Melaye in the hospital. How rational is that? Why can’t they send a delegation of two or three people who would report back? So, it’s like a showoff of power and intimidation. I don’t think it’s really worthy of them to behave like that.”
The PACAC chief, who said he was not a fan of the current Senate, accused the red chamber of abdicating its responsibilities by its refusal to pass the 2018 budget almost halfway into the year.
