Former President Goodluck Jonathan has fired back at a legal luminary Professor Itse Sagay SAN over a statement in which he offered a public advise to Jonathan to confess his involvement in the deal before he is arrested.
Jonathan in a statement issued by Dr. Abubakar Sulaiman, his former minister of National Planning faulted Sagay over the statement publicly made.
According to the response, Sagay as a respected learned scholar should know that you don’t hang a suspect on the pages of newspaper or via social media until he or she is found guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction.
“One should expect the respected learned scholar to know that you don’t hang a suspect on the pages of newspaper or via social media until he or she is found guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction,” the statement affirmed.
Sagay who is also chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Corruption, had recently advised Jonathan to secretly confess all he knew about the scandalous $2.1 billion arms deal, to which his name has been linked, by President Muhammadu Buhari.
He stated during the week that if Jonathan goes by the advice, he may be accorded the respect due to him by virtue of being a former president.
Sagay, however pointed out that the case of the former president being arrested relating to the arms scandal is a “sensitive one”, adding that his concession of defeat to Buhari during the March 28 presidential election does not make Jonathan a hero, as one good action could not correct several evil deeds.
Jonathan thinks that the statement by Sagay which tended to impugn his integrity is not only unfortunate but, unprofessional.
In the statement by Suleiman, the former president said, “Accordingly, even where the learned jurist feels passionate of such a sensitive but sensational issue, he should know the right route to the villa rather than taking such prejudicial position.
“It is high time our legal luminaries confined themselves to the noble ethics of their profession than toeing the path of some mischief politicians.
“And we pray that when the report of his Committee finally comes out, it will reflect and incorporate the noble principles of rule of law, fair hearing and impartiality so as to meet the irreducible minimum standard expected in matters of this nature. We also pray that it may not end up dashing, rather than raising the hopes of average Nigerian in the vintage APC fashion, as with most things these days”.
