Rivers Gov't Blast Prof. Sagay Over 'Unwarranted Comments'

Posted by Thandiubani on Mon 15th Feb, 2016 - tori.ng

The Rivers State government has blasted Prof. Itse Sagay, Chairman Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-corruption, for his comments on Governor Nyesom Wike.

Prof. Itse Sagay, Chairman Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-corruption

The Rivers State government has lambasted the chairman of President Muhammadu Buhari’s Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-corruption, Itse Sagay,‎ for his recent comment on the Supreme Court judgment which upheld the election of Governor Nyesom Wike.

Sagay had said: “Everybody knows that people like Wike climbed into the governorship seat (over) dead bodies and over bloods of human beings. There were no elections, they wrote the results, the evidence is there."

In a release on Sunday, the Rivers State government called Sagay's comment a “bitter and completely unwarranted attack” on Supreme Court justices in the wake of the apex court’s decision.

The statement issued by Austin Tam-George, Commissioner for Information and Communication, Rivers State condemned Sagay for his comments. Tam-George said: “Prof Itse Sagay, one of the most opportunistic enablers of the corrupt regime of Mr. Rotimi Amaechi in Rivers State, seems to have finally found the courage to step out of his closet.

“For a trained lawyer, Prof Sagay has obviously lost his sense of irony. He criticizes the legally sound and unanimous judgement of the Supreme Court, by resorting to the silly and unsubstantiated hearsay mindlessly peddled by the APC.

“In the twilight of an unremarkable career, is Prof Sagay seeking to be the dubious originator of the sick jurisprudence of “Everybody Knows”, even without evidence?

“Is the Supreme Court no longer supreme in its judgements? Why is Sagay re-litigating a settled matter in the streets in such a disgraceful manner?

“Prof Itse Sagay may wish to re-read the history of the people of Rivers State. We never give up our sovereignty.”

The state government condemned the‎ “carefully orchestrated campaign of calumny” which it said was launched by the All Progressives Congress, the main opposition party in the state.

“Working with other Nigerians and our sister states in the Niger Delta region, the government and people of Rivers State will continue to defeat the dark political fundamentalism of the APC,” the statement further said.

“We call on the international community to restrain the All Progressives Congress from its desperate attempts to politically dominate our people and plunder the resources of our land.”