Politics
Some experts have expressed divergent views on the propriety or otherwise of the parliamentary system as an alternative system of government for Nigeria.
The experts expressed their views in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Ibadan.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a group of 60 lawmakers, led by Mr Kingsley Chinda (PDP-Rivers), had, of recent, been campaigning for abolition of presidential system of government and its replacement with the parliamentary system.
In his argument, Prof. Gbade Ojo, of University of Ilorin, Kwara, said that people occupying political offices should exhibit Godly conscience in their decision-making process rather than dissipating energy on campaigning for a change in the system of government.
Ojo, a professor of Comparative Politics, recalled that parliamentary system was discarded with in the Second Republic and substituted with the presidential model which was thought to be more suitable in a deeply plural and divided society like Nigeria.
“Our fundamental problems are the operators of the system at all levels rather than the system itself,” Ojo, a former Chief of Staff to the late for Gov. Abiola Ajimobi said.
However, Prof. Isaac Albert, an expert in African history, argued that the only way out of the current political challenges in the country was a return to parliamentary system of government.
According to Albert, political decisions are easily made in a parliamentary system than in a presidential system.
“In this case, I’m not just speaking as an historian, but as a member of the 2014 Constitutional Conference where issues were properly ironed out.
“In my own view, Nigeria would be better managed under a parliamentary system, but the politicians may not allow it to happen.
“The system produced better result when it was first practiced.
“Nigeria does not need the sophistication of the presidential system of government at this time.
“Most of the lawmakers who would bring about the change are also nursing fourth or fifth term ambition.
“Surely, most of the lawmakers campaigning around the six geo-political zones are not sincere.
“At the end of the day, they would come back and say that their campaign failed because it was not supported by other lawmakers,” the don said.
Corroborating Albert’s position, a former Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice in Oyo State, Mr Adebayo Ojo, described the lawmakers’ moves as an effort in futility and a case of idleness.
“I believe that they are idle, I mean the National Assembly people.
“Have we not tried the parliamentary system in the first republic? Didn’t we fail?
“The problem is not about any system, we (Nigerians) are the problem. The operators of any system matter.
“We are the bad operators; give Nigerians the best of any system, they will abuse it and run it down,” Ojo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), stated. (NAN)
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-April 08, 2024 @ 15:06 GMT|
Tags: Mr Adebayo Ojo Mr Kingsley Chinda Prof. Gbade Ojo Prof. Isaac Albert
