The All Progressives Congress, APC, has said it will not use the criteria set by the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, PACAC, Itse Sagay in dealing with its members.
Sagay had alleged that the party leadership is associating with and condoning corrupt members.
However, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, said it will not deal with its members based on the recommendations of the senior lawyer, while describing Sagay’s criticism as unfair.
Abdullahi said since the PACAC boss had already stated in his interview that he is neither a politician nor a member of the APC, he will not be able to appreciate how the party deals with issues that have to do with politicians.
He told Independent, “The statement credited to Prof. Sagay accusing the party leadership of being weak and conniving with corrupt politicians to a relatively large extent is unfair. Prof. Sagay by his own admission said he is not a politician.
“If he is not a politician, that means he will not be able to appreciate happenings within the political dynamics. He has a different consideration from the considerations that we have as managers of the party. The responsibility that he has as an adviser to the president on anti-corruption is different from the responsibility we have to build our party and hold it together.
“He, on his part, wants us to exclude the people he has labeled as corrupt from the party, but the responsibility we have is to hold the party together. Until a law court has pronounced someone guilty of a crime, we don’t have the duty to label anyone as corrupt.
“I will be surprised if what Prof. Sagay is suggesting that the moment he, as chairman of PACAC, labels someone as corrupt, then the party should accept that pronouncement as a universal definition of that individual and severe relationship with that person.
“I don’t think that will be appropriate and that does not fall in line with our responsibility as a political party.”
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