Lagos, June 11, 2023 – Chief Edwin Clark, a frontline nationalist and former Minister of Information, has advised Nigerians remain peaceful and avoid crisis in spite of the numerous challenges in the country.
Clark, gave the advice in Abuja on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the annulment of June 12 Presidential Election in Nigeria.
June 12 has been declared the ‘Democracy Day’ and a public holiday in Nigeria as a mark of its political significance to the country.
Clarke said: “We all desired that we live in a country that is peaceful, that is free from crisis, security and economic challenges and the low corruption level.
“Corruption in the country is so high which I always say, since 2014, that government should declare a state of emergency on corruption.
“The rate at which corruption is going on in the country is terrible where every arm of government cannot be trusted,” he said.
The 96-year-old national leader called for a peaceful country where all Nigerians would be equal before the law.
“We want a Nigeria where all of us live together peacefully and there is no discrimination and we should all obey the provision of the constitution which states there should be no state religion.
“There should be no promotion of a particular religion over and above others.
“When we were in the 2014 National Conference, as an elder stateman, we made a lot of recommendations for the survival of Nigeria as a country.
“A united country free from crisis, where all the citizens are equal before the law and anyone of them can rise to any position you want to lead,” he said.
Clark said that that the immediate past administration in the country did not provide the necessary ingredients for Nigeria’s democracy to grow.
“Everything was done by the executive and we had the 9th Assembly that did not perform well.
“Many Nigerians accused them of rubber stamping and today we are owing so much money which would have been debated on the floor of the chamber,” he said.
On Tinubu administration, Clark declined to make comments.
“I don’t want to commend on that one much because the election tribunals are still sitting.
“I don’t want to make statements that are prejudicial. So, let the law take its normal course.” (GBN)
