Senate has the powers to summon anybody, including Sagay himself - Ozekhome

The Nigerian Police Force could arrest the chairman of the presidential advisory committee against corruption, Prof Itse Sagay (SAN), following his failure to honour the invitation by the Nigerian senate, based on details given by another senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr Mike Ozekhome.

Prof Itse Sagay

Speaking on Channels TV, in a program tagged Breakfast Show, Ozekhome, Sunrise Daily, on Friday, March 31, 2017, said the oversight functions of the Senate under sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 constitution permits the upper chamber to book not only public officers, but anybody who have impute into issues over which the national assembly has powers to make laws.

He said under section 89, if anybody summoned by the Senate refused to appear before it, the legislators could direct the police to arrest such a person.

Ozekhome further stated that: “the Senate President or the Speaker of the House of Representatives if satisfied that the person has entered into recognizance, they can release the person but if not satisfied, they can tell them to keep the person there.”

Watch an extract from the program where Mike Ozekhome offered the explanation on the matter:

Recall that the Senate summoned Prof Itse Sagay on Wednesday, March 29, for professedly putting forth disparaging expression against the legislators.

The summons was in continuation of Sagay's remarks in response to the dissent by the Senate against the retention of Mr Ibrahim Magu as the acting executive of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in spite of the dismissal of his nomination by the officials.

The lawmakers who took turns condemning, Sagay requested that the  lawyer should name the people with sketchy character in the upper council of the National Assembly.

Sagay notwithstanding, said he was not going to respect the summons, demanding that he was not among the class of individuals the Senate had the privilege to summon.