The Scary Fragility of Nigeria’s Democracy.
“By God’s grace, we will amend Nigeria’s constitution to allow Buhari to be president for the remaining years of his life. He will only cease to be president when God takes his life.” — Sen. Lawal Gumau, APC.
The life blood of politicians is power. Give a politician a Bill and they’ll take an Executive Order or two. It is this pursuit of power that is one of the main threats to democracy, and preventing a Ruling Party from becoming an autocracy — no matter how benevolent — is a major role of the Opposition.
To be clear, some of the more exemplary examples of national democracy do not have term limits, and some do. Articles and opinion pieces have been written for and against term limits, and there is a vast treasure trove of material available online.
This article gives no opinion on term limits in general, and focuses instead on Nigeria, where the President Buhari, constitutionally limited to two 4-year terms, is just starting his second. Unsuccessful attempts have been made in the past to alter this limitation; but with a ruthless Presidency and a pliant National Assembly, just how far-fetched is the idea of Life President Muhammad Buhari? Not quite unrealistic actually, if one…
