Izuchukwu OkosiElder statesman and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SWAN), Robert Clarke has opined that the Nigerian constitution needs to be changed to allow credible Nigerians aspire for political offices.
The legal luminary however regrets that those who ought to ensure that controversies during and after the election cycles, Constitution and the Electoral Act are in accordance to the law are those benefiting from the current state of affairs in the country.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelClarke made the asserting in an interview on Arise News Friday while speaking on the state politics and the judiciary in the nation after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was upheld as the winner of the 2023 Presidential election by the Supreme Court which delivered judgement on Thursday, 26 October 2023.
“We have to change the constitution. I’m sorry to say this, without changing the constitution, amending the powers of INEC, and, you know, making sure Nigeria, make sure that the elections adhere strictly to the laws, we will always have this problem.
“Every four, four years, we will come back to be fighting each other on nothing, and in that process, we are making the politicians happy.
“Not only the politicians, you are making we, the lawyers, happy, because as I always said, this is the harvest time for us lawyers, but that does not mean that because it is the harvest time for all lawyers, then we take advantage of that, we push politicians to take up cases.
As I am talking today, only God knows how many pre-election cases are before the court. All these will not be resolved for the next six months, for the next one year. Another circle starts again, and the politicians are gathering their money to throw around.”
Clarke however believes controversies and politics are intertwined as there elements within the political space that are keen to manipulate the law.
“Let us be honest with ourselves, you cannot remove controversies from politics and all these things. The problem is that the law must be so clear.
“If the law is clear and there are no manipulators around that law, everybody will be happy that whatever happens, nobody is going to manipulate the law.”
“The problem in Nigeria starts with the political parties. We have allowed the political parties in Nigeria to take over every area of our political lives, every. Without being a member, you can’t be nothing in the political arena in Nigeria. This is an area we have to look into, and we have to stop.”
He went on to say: “Nigeria is so spoilt. If we have a law that allows you and I to participate in politics, we won’t allow those rascals in the political parties to be dominating everything.”
Clarke insisted the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had been given too much authority, and as such whatever they did during elections was right in the sight of the law.
“If we do not take time, we cannot stop it except we change the electoral law, we change the constitution, we change the way and manner INEC officials are being appointed and many things, we will find out that there will be no trouble.”
Clarke then mentioned that 90% of Atiku Abubakar’s ‘woes’ were caused by his lawyers whom he accused of dereliction of duty.
“What they should have done 20 years ago, 15 years ago, they did not do it. What they should have done 30 days ago, they did not do it. Instead, because they have all this easy money to travel to America to collect this and that, they are now bamboozling everybody in Nigeria to show that Atiku has a case.”
The case against President Tinubu brought to the Supreme Court after hearing by the Presidential Election Tribunal was about the authenticity of his school certificate or otherwise obtained from the Chicago State University.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
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