Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Professor Itse Sagay has told President Muhammadu Buhari to sack some of his ministers who have been the clog in the wheel of progress of his administration.
Sagay, who spoke yesterday after delivering the convocation lecture of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State, also called for a capital punishment for corrupt Nigerians.
He expressed fears that some cabal may end up distracting President Buhari, adding that “the cabals have no business being in the presidency, as such, they should be fished out and flushed out.”
He, however, declined to mention the names of members of the cabal, but insisted that “they are not helpful to the government, everybody is complaining about them.”
Speaking on “Nigeria: The Travails of An Animal Kingdom”, Sagay said the elite in Nigeria are the problem of the country, adding that the quality of the political elite have continued to decline since after the First Republic.
According to him, “President Buhari should be firmer; we need a little dose of autocracy if we want to develop as a country.
“I strongly support capital punishment; I do not understand why Nigerians are trying to be over sophisticated; trying to be like Europeans and Americans. These countries have laws put in place and they abide by the laws.
“When Nigerians go abroad, they obey the traffic, but when they come back home, they become lawless. I want President Buhari to exercise some of the powers he has to shame corrupt people.
“Nigeria should stay with President Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, if the country must get to the Promised Land.
“Buhari and Osinbajo have absolute integrity, if we don’t make use of them now, I don’t know when next we will have leaders like them.”
While speaking on the former chairman of the Presidential Pension Task Force Abdulrasheed Maina, Professor Sagay said those behind his recall to the civil service should also be identified and punished, stressing that the matter had not been swept under the carpet.
He, however, said that Nigeria’s problem did not start with the Buhari administration, adding that the government was determined to bring the problem to an end to the satisfaction of all Nigerians.
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