Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and an elderly statesman, Chief Robert Clarke, has said President Muhammadu Buhari needs extra six months at the expiration of his tenure to give him enough time to address the country’s security problems. Chief Clarke stated that with less than a year to the 2023 elections there was not enough time to address the insecurity to ensure a safe exercise.
Speaking on Arise Television programme, he noted that the Constitution provided for extension of tenure for six months in the first instance if conditions were not ripe for an election. He, however, warned that the nation may not scale through 2023 if nothing was done before the elections.
“The Constitution provides that the President can stay longer than eight years. I’ve always said it. It is in the Constitution. If the situation in which we’re in now continues, and it is impossible to vote in the 2023 elections, the Constitution says if a situation persists, the President can stay. Given all insurgencies, kidnappings, and Boko Haram, I don’t think in these areas of Nigeria, we can have a good election. So, the fact that the Constitution says the president cannot stay for more than eight years is wrong. Because the same constitution says he can be given six months if those conditions persist.
Now, I don’t see any green light. I don’t see how what is happening today can be stopped within six months from today or before February next year when the elections will be held.
