P&ID: Sagay denies connection, criticises Shasore

Legal luminary, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), has denied reports linking to the failed attempt by a firm, Process and Industry Development (P&ID), to scam the Federal Government of $11 million.

Sagay, who was the Chairman of the defunct Presidential Advisory Committee during the last administration, was alleged to have acted as a consultant to the firm during its legal tussle with the Nigerian government.

The constitutional lawyer, in an interview with journalists in Abuja, yesterday, said he felt embarrassed by the reports that he had provided consultancy services for P&ID.
He said it was even more embarrassing that his name was mentioned in the judgment delivered by a London court.

In the judgment delivered by Justice Robin Knowles, it was stated that Mr Olasupo Shasore (SAN) wrote to Sagay on 25 March 2014, to ask if Sagay could provide an expert report on Nigerian law in response to the expert report that Justice Alfa Belgore had written.

It was stated that Sagay agreed to do so and documents were sent to him on 2nd April 2014, and that the next day, in a letter of  3 April 2004, Sagay wrote to Shasore identifying his fee for an expert report.

Sagay was quoted as saying that he had “gone through all of” the documents that had been sent and expressed the view that the Ministry of Petroleum Resources “appeared to be in a very difficult legal position” that Justice Belgore’s opinion was “quite formidable”, and that “it will therefore take a tremendous level of research and intellectual work to counter his arguments and the claimant’s case”.

While responding to the report, Sagay said he was never involved in the P&ID case, adding that he strongly believed that it was Shasore that had attempted to mislead the court by using his name.

He said, “I have been receiving calls from all over the country following reports that I was employed as a consultant to give an opposing view to the one presented by Justice Belgore as part of their legal strategy against the Nigerian government.

“I strongly believe this was concocted by Shasore who is being prosecuted for his role in the P&ID case. I never acted as a consultant for the P&ID, I was never paid a dime and I never wrote an expert opinion on the matter.

“It is, however, unfortunate and embarrassing that my name found its way into the judgment delivered by the London court. How could I ever support a foreign firm to defraud Nigeria?”.