That moment president's adviser tore into APC

Sagay delights in getting under the skin of Nigeria’s lawmakers who he’s called “irresponsible and childish” in the past.

We did a timeline of Sagay’s previous battles with lawmakers, some of which you can actually read here.

But this time, Sagay had another ‘enemy’ in his sights.

The leadership of the governing APC recently asked Sagay to zip his mouth and stop making enemies for President Muhammadu Buhari—seeing as the president has several ‘enemies’ on his back as it were.

In a statement signed by Bolaji Abdullahi who is spokesperson of the governing party, the APC said:

“In furtherance of the All Progressives Congress (APC) efforts to resolve the rift between the executive and the national assembly, the APC urges all government appointees to stop making statements that may further worsen the relationship between the two arms of government and derail the party’s effort to make peace.

“Specifically, the party urges Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption (PACAC) to exercise restraint and desist from making utterances that may be misconstrued as an attack on the institution of the national assembly.

“The party acknowledges the fatherly role being played by the President, H.E Muhammadu Buhari to resolve outstanding issues with the national assembly, by setting up a high-level committee led by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.

“We believe the comments attributed to Prof. Sagay are uncalled for, regrettable and could further complicate the relationship between these vital arms of government.

“Our expectation would be that as a Law Professor of repute, Prof. Sagay would appreciate the need to not denigrate the institutions of democracy, be it the executive, legislature or judiciary.

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“Moreover, as an appointee of Mr. President, we should expect the learned professor to key into his principal’s temper and help him to make friends that would make his job easier and not make enemies of people who, by virtue of the position they occupy under our law, are critical to the running of government and the nurturing of our democracy.”

The APC should have been warned because Sagay often takes no prisoners.

His response to the APC arrived in torrents.

Sagay says he’ll only stop speaking when his boss asks him to. Implication—the APC has no right to ask him to shut his t***.

“Yes, Buhari is my employer. If he tells me to stop talking, I’ll stop talking. But I have certain rights too that I can exercise in addition to that, because I’m not going to be in a position where I am impotent,” he fired.

“So, I must obey him, but I can go beyond that and obey myself too. That’s it”.

Sagay said the APC leadership is lily-livered, weak and bereft of managerial ideas.

“As for the leadership of the APC, I think they are the most unprincipled group of people. They are lily-livered, weak, and cannot run any organisation.

“The whole party is collapsing under them. They cannot control anybody. Because they cannot control anybody, they’re now in fact encouraging and accepting ‘rogues’. When I say rogues, I don’t mean stealing. In literature, when you say someone is a rogue elephant, it means people who are running riot and destroying the party.

“They’re pampering them, saying: ‘Let’s not annoy them too much’, but they’re destroying the APC house. So, I think the APC leadership is weak, is too compromising and is certainly a failure as far as I’m concerned.”

Oh dear, we really should have warned the APC.

To go against lawmakers is one thing. To take on the political party of your boss is another thing entirely.

Only Sagay is capable of unloading on just about anyone.

And in case anyone was thinking Sagay was going to leave without taking on the lawmakers one more time--a favorite pastime of his--oh well, you better rethink, because this arrived in another flurry:

“We’re going to do further thorough research on this matter (of allowances of lawmakers), and we’re still going to come out with figures. If you recall, the former Governor of Central Bank said they were consuming virtually one quarter, 25 per cent of our budget. They didn’t deny it,” he said.

“If you look at the allowances, Nigerians need to ask themselves questions. Should we be the ones clothing senators? Should my tax be used in hanging Agbada on a senator? The press has not taken it up, but this is serious.

“How many times have government provided clothes for you, and yet you’re clothed? But these men who are overpaid, who are absorbing the largest share of our resources are still asking us to clothe them, as if they arrived in Abuja naked. It’s not acceptable.

“What about the man who is earning N18,000 a month, who’s carrying machinery, working in a factory, cutting grass on the road, cleaning the roads, sweating with hard labour. Nobody is paying them hardship allowance.

“They’re claiming utility allowance. In other words, if we don’t give them money, they don’t have cutlery, tablecloth, plates and saucepans. We have to provide those for them. The list goes on.

“It is criminal. It is unconscionable. It is wicked for people who are so highly privileged, who are the wealthiest people in the country to still be sucking our blood dry by collecting these things which they don’t need and depriving others of them.”

Has anyone got a white flag?