The Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), has said he will not honor the invitation by the Senate.
The Senate had on Wednesday ordered Sagay to appear before it for comments he made in the media on the lawmakers.
Sagay, shortly after the summons was issued, however, said the Senate lacks the power to invite him.
Sagay told THE PUNCH: “I am waiting for the Senate summons. In any case, they don’t have the remotest of powers or authority to summon me because their power to summon people is very limited if you look at Section 88 and Section 89 of the constitution.
“I don’t fall under the category of people that they can summon. I am not operating any federal programme to which they have voted money. They are not investigating me based on anything for which they have voted money. So, there is nothing they can do about it.
“I expressed my personal view and if you feel very strongly about it, you can go to court and sue for defamation. That is the best anybody can do but to say I should come before the Senate committee based on an accusation by the same Senate committee which is going to act as a judge in the same case? It will charge me and judge me? It is unconstitutional and illegal.”
The Senate had on Wednesday ordered Sagay to appear before it for comments he made in the media on the lawmakers.
Sagay, shortly after the summons was issued, however, said the Senate lacks the power to invite him.
Sagay told THE PUNCH: “I am waiting for the Senate summons. In any case, they don’t have the remotest of powers or authority to summon me because their power to summon people is very limited if you look at Section 88 and Section 89 of the constitution.
“I don’t fall under the category of people that they can summon. I am not operating any federal programme to which they have voted money. They are not investigating me based on anything for which they have voted money. So, there is nothing they can do about it.
“I expressed my personal view and if you feel very strongly about it, you can go to court and sue for defamation. That is the best anybody can do but to say I should come before the Senate committee based on an accusation by the same Senate committee which is going to act as a judge in the same case? It will charge me and judge me? It is unconstitutional and illegal.”
