Sagay Reveals Why He Joined APC, Blasts Yinka Odumakin

Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) on Tuesday declared that he is now a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

He however maintained that he did not join the party for material reward.

Sagay, in a statement made available to DAILY INDEPENDENT, said he joined the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) founded by the late sage, Obafemi Awolowo, and later became a supporter of the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD), Action Congress (AC) and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) led by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who according to him, is the closest inheritor of Awolowo’s mantle.

Sagay, in the statement, also had some strong words for Yinka Odumakin, National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, who he said supported and became the spokesman of President Muhammadu Buhari, then candidate of the Congress for Progressives Change (CPC) in the 2011 presidential election, but dumped him for former President Goodluck Jonathan, who won the election.

“I have never been involved in politics for gain in my life. In 1979, I joined the UPN of Chief Awolowo. I was a member of the UPN Think Tank, based in Ile-Ife and headed by no less a person than the late Prof. Sam Aluko. We asked for no material reward and were given none.

“I was a supporter of AD, AC and ACN led by Asiwaju Tinubu, who I regard as the closest inheritor of the Awolowo mantle. Now, I am a member of the APC and I am serving it just as I served the Action Group. I have not changed since 1962. I will never change.

“In 2011, Odumakin came calling at my house with a card from Gen. Buhari seeking my support. Odumakin spent two hours, vigorously putting across the high qualities of Gen. Buhari. Although, I was already inclined to support Buhari, Odumakin’s visit capped the whole matter.

“But, what of Odumakin himself? He was a chief supporter and spokesman for Buhari in 2011, but as the whole world knows, Buhari has no free money for anybody. And so, Odumakin packed his bag, abandoned Buhari and headed for Jonathan to become Jonathan’s errand boy.

“Jonathan lost the election and carpet bagger Odumakin pulled up his tent from Jonathan’s environment and headed for Atiku to pitch his tent there. Odumakin always follows the money…

“He is a man who moves from camp to camp in order to feed. Unfortunately, Odumakin brings bad luck to every principal he purports to serve. When he served Buhari, Buhari lost the presidential election in 2011. He moved on to Jonathan, and Jonathan lost the presidential election in 2015. Now that he has moved on to Atiku, Atiku’s fate can be foretold.”

Sagay, in the statement, also denied the claim allegedly made by Odumakin that he supported calls for the extradition in 2015 of the late Diepreye Alameiyeseigha, former governor of Bayelsa to the United Kingdom.

“For me, the most painful part of his savage attack on me is his assertion that I betrayed Deprieye Alameiyeseigha, former governor of Bayelsa State. Odumakin had made this assertion before in October 2017; I corrected it in the newspapers. That he has repeated these lies again shows that Odumakin is a chronic and unrepentant liar.

“Let me say straight away that I was strongly opposed to the rumoured move by government to extradite the former governor. I was certainly not consulted by the government and could therefore not have advised them on that subject. All these stories were concocted by his enemies in order to ruin my reputation.”