APC not opposed to SGF probe – Shehu Sani

 Sack Lawal, Magu now, chieftain tells President

By Bode Olagoke
Abuja

The lawmaker representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District and Chairman, Ad hoc Committee on Humanitarian Crisis in the North-east, Senator Shehu Sani, has said that his
party, the All progressives Congress (APC), was in support of the ongoing probe of alleged financial misappropriation involving the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Engr. David Babachir Lawal.

The Senator added that in as much as he did not beg to be appointed into the committee “nobody can stop the probe.”
Speaking to newsmen shortly after a closed door meeting with the APC National Working Committee (NWC), led by its National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun, at the party national secretariat, Sani said the party leaders only expressed concern about his grammatical prowess which they felt was causing disaffection for the party.

Sani, at the Senate plenary, faulted a letter purportedly written by the Presidency to clear Engr. Lawal of wrongdoing where he described the current fight against corruption as use of “insecticide and deodorant.”
“They said the party is not opposed to it. I also asked them if the party is opposed to my interim report and they said no and so, I ask what their issues were. They told me that they are worried and concerned each time I fire some grammar in the Senate and it shocks and rattles them while destroying the solidarity within the party, and they want me to slow down on some of these Cruz missiles. I told them that it is either my honour or that of the letter that was sent by the Presidency.

“I did not in any way attack the President, but I faulted the letter based on three issues. First, my name was omitted in the letter as Chairman of the Senate Ad Hoc Committee. Secondly, the SGF said we didn’t invite him, but we did invite him and thirdly, the letter said there was no quorum.
“I told them that in as much as my comment on deodorant and insecticide was rattling, they should have invited the SGF for calling the Senate and our report balderdash, and they said they were also opposed to that language used.
“They said they don’t want us to wash our dirty linens in the public and I told them that at the end of the day, even if you wash your dirty linens inside the room, you will still have to dry them outside.

“I made clarifications that they are not opposed to corruption investigations, but they are worried by the missiles I used which are causing a lot of discomfort. I told them I was only using literary expression to send my message.
“When I say deodorant or insecticide, it is a clear definition of the bipolar anti-corruption crusade that is going on in the country, and I believe that there is the need for Nigerians to wake up to these realities.”
When asked whether or not the Senate was bent on seeing the SGF go, he said: “Sacking the SGF is not about Shehu Sani, but about the resolution of the Senate and what they said is binding on me. If the Senate says he should go, I share in that position and if they say he should remain, I share in that position too.

“We are investigating the massive misappropriation of funds for IDPs in the North-east. Nobody can stop that. We are determined to do our work and have done an interim report and we are going to come out with the full detail after this break and nobody in the party has said he is opposed to it. But I think that their major concern was my grammar.”
In a related development, an APC chieftain in Kaduna state, Yusuf Ali (Rabagardama), has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the embattled SGF and the Acting Executive Chairman, Economics and Financial, Crimes Commission (EFFC), Ibrahim Magu, describing them as “liabilities to the administration.”
He said the embattled SGF had failed the integrity test, adding that “there are other competent and credible people even from the North-east who can competently replace him while he serves out his time in any of the prisons assigned to him.”

Ali, in a statement he signed in Abuja yesterday, and made available to Blueprint, asked President Buhari to remain on the side of the people by replacing Engr. Babachir and Magu without further delay.
“As an ardent supporter of Mr. President and his administration, I strongly believe in the anti-corruption crusade and transparency in governance as being promoted by Mr. President. But as a politician, there comes a time that you have to make a choice based on the preponderance of public opinion.
“Our democracy rests on a tripod and if at any time an arm of the government raises any issue with any of the two arms, it beShoves on the executive to see reasons and the political risk of any decision he is making.

“The other day it was corruption in the Judiciary and Nigerians were behind the president and today, it’s allegation of corruption within his government, he must equally take side with the people.
“Everybody knows Babacir is an ally of Mr. President, but when the Senate alleges that the SGF conducted himself very dishonourably, he automatically became a political liability to the government that came to power on the crest of anti-corruption. Thus, he has to be dispensed with so that the appropriate authorities can either clear or indict him.

“I will advise Mr. President to have a rethink on this issue by directing the SGF to proceed on leave in order to enable the anti-corruption agencies to properly investigate him vis-a-vis the Senate indictment.
“If he is found liable, he can as well face the music. But on the other hand, if he is cleared, he resumes his work. In this way, Mr. President can spare himself of all the hue and cry that he is covering up some people in his administration who are alleged to be corrupt.”