Tag: Parliamentary System

Concentration of power in executive arm not good enough, parliamentary system better for Nig-Aregbesola

Ex-governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, has called for Nigeria to dump the presidential system of government and return to the parliamentary system.

Aregbesola made this assertion at a National Dialogue on Home-Grown Parliamentary System in Abuja on Monday.

The immediate past Minister of Interior, who said he is opposed to the executive system of government currently practiced in Nigeria, insisted that the arrangement in the parliamentary system is best suited for a country like Nigeria.

“If you go on believing that an individual, no matter how beautiful, no matter how good, could have the capacity to govern 120 million people all alone without checks, we are joking. So, by that consideration alone, I am opposed to executive system of government.

“I believe the collective arrangement which the parliamentary system guarantees is best for a nation like Nigeria if indeed we are committed to advancing the interest of the large population and mass of our people,” Aregbesola said.

In February this year, a group of lawmakers in the House of Representatives brought a bill seeking amendments to the 1999 Constitution to transit from the current presidential system to the parliamentary system of government.

According to the group made up of about 60 lawmakers, the transition has become necessary to reduce the cost of government in the face of dwindling revenue.

Titled, ‘The Bills Proposing Constitutional Alterations For a Transition To Parliamentary System of Government,’ the bill was sponsored by the House Minority Leader, Kingsley Chinda, and 59 others.
The bill was read on the floor of the House during plenary session in Abuja on Wednesday, February 14, 2024.

In a statement, a Spokesman for the Parliamentary Bill Sponsors, Abdussamad Dasuki said, “Today, we stand on the cusp of history, as lawmakers across party affiliations and regional backgrounds come together to present bills proposing Constitutional Alterations that seek a transition to Parliamentary System of Government.

He added that over the years, the imperfections of the Presidential System of Government have become glaring to all, despite several alterations to the constitution to address the shortcomings of a system that has denied the nation the opportunity of attaining its full potentials.

November 11, 2024
Why Nigerian Senate should be scrapped – Popular rights activist, Aisha Yesufu

Popular female rights activist, Aisha Yesufu has called for the scrapping of the Nigerian Senate to reduce the cost of governance in the country.

Yesufu who’s the Co-founder of the Bring Back Our Girls Movement made the appeal while speaking to pressmen on Sunday in Lagos.

The rights activist was reacting to calls in some quarters that the country should jettison the bicameral legislature(two-chamber National Assembly) and adopt a unicameral legislature to reduce the cost of governance.

According to her, Nigeria could, alternatively, consider the re-introduction of the parliamentary system of government to reduce the heavy funds spent on the National Assembly.

She added that until something is done about the cost of running the government and corruption, Nigerians will not feel the dividends of democracy.

“We need to really and critically examine our democracy and look at what fits us and serve the ordinary people and the masses. The one that will not be too expensive.

“What we have now is too expensive. We need to cut costs and not just continue what we have that has not been working for Nigerians.

“I totally support the call for us to have a unicameral legislature and scrapping the Senate, it is very important because the kind of governance that we are practising is very expensive.

“As a country, we really don’t have that kind of money. Apart from this, the fact is that both the Senate and House of Representatives end up duplicating functions in terms of what they do,” Yesufu said.

She said the Senate had been turned into ”a retirement home for a lot of incompetent and failed governors who didn’t do anywhere well for the people in their state.”

She said that Nigerians had continued to bear the brunt of the resources annually allocated to these political ‘retirees’ in the Senate.

Yesufu added: “It (Senate) is a joke ground, we cannot say what the Senate does is in a real sense different from what the House of Representatives do.

“They (Senators) do nothing special and at the end of the day, they are paid a humongous amount of our money and such huge allowances for doing nothing different.

“We found out that a good number of them, especially those that are former governors, while they get this humongous salary, are collecting pension from their respective states.

“There is no way democracy can work for the masses with this kind of waste of public funds that could have been directed to put happiness to the face of the common man.”

According to her, Senegal is practising a unicameral legislature, after abolishing the Senate for the second time in September 2012.

She said: “The House of Representatives is enough for it to be able to take care of the law-making aspect of the nation, oversight and other things that the legislative arm of government does.

“Unicameral legislature should be adopted in Nigeria because bicameralism is too expensive apart from the fact that it slows down the business of lawmaking.

“It is not working for us, we don’t have the kind of money to run it and maintain this, especially at a time when the masses are suffering.

“Having a single legislative arm will pay us better in terms of reduction of cost of governance,” she said.

Yesufu decried that Nigeria had not in a real sense been practising a true federal system of government.

The activist further said the country could also adopt the parliamentary system of government to reduce the cost of governance.

She said that Nigeria could no longer sustain the current presidential system of government.

“This will also pay us in terms of reduction of the cost of governance because whoever is leading the country is the one that is first among equals.

“Ministers in this system are selected from members of the parliament that are elected.

“So, that reduces the cost of governance drastically and better than what we have now where separate people are brought in as ministers,” she said.

The activist said that both the bicameral legislature and presidential system of government had brought a lot of pressure on the nation’s resources.

“We can have a parliamentary system of government, we shall be reducing the cost of governance drastically.

“The Prime Minister would not be this powerful and exercise control over everything, including the appointed ministers, because ministers are also members of the parliament,” she said.

June 9, 2024
The Parliamentary System debate – By Dakuku Peterside

The debate over which system of government is most appropriate for a multi-ethnic and geographically diverse Nigeria has suddenly resurfaced. This time, it is pushing the fundamental issues of good governance, bread and butter, security, and inclusiveness that Nigeria is grappling with to the back burner. At the centre of the debate is the agitation for a return to the parliamentary system of government as the structural panacea to Nigeria’s myriads of problems, although Nigeria has long consigned this system of government to history. Agitating the minds of critical observers of Nigerian politics is whether this renewed debate is political or systemic or is just a symptom of frustration with poor governance outcomes. Will a change from a presidential system of government to a parliamentary system put Nigeria on a trajectory of growth and development? Is there solid evidence that our many woes come from the practice of the presidential system of government, that a change to parliamentary will help us overcome?

The first to fire the salvo was a group of 60 members of the National Assembly that proposed a bill to take the country back to the parliamentary system. Support came from diverse and far-flung quarters in rapid succession, including Afenifere, the pan-Yoruba political platform. We are not alone here. In late March this year, our neighbour, Togo, adopted a new constitution introduced by members of the ruling party, which transitions the West African nation from a presidential to a parliamentary system. Senegal also witnessed a significant generational shift in electing a new president. Developments in Togo and Senegal would increase the intensity of debate and agitations in Nigeria.

In retrospect, we have tried both the parliamentary and presidential systems at different times. Between 1960 and 1966, referred to as the first republic, Nigeria, like most African countries that just got independence from their British colonial masters, adopted a parliamentary system of government. It had its challenges and strengths. At the breakdown of the first republic, the popular verdict was that the system was not the most appropriate for us or that the Nigerian political elite could not operate it. The military government of 1976-1978 led by General Olusegun Obasanjo, and the growing political elites considered the pros and cons of the parliamentary system, which was still fresh in Nigeria’s minds, and decided that the cons outweighed the pros. Just before the 1979 military-civilian transition, they chose the presidential system for us. The justifications for this choice were to improve issues of management of geographical diversity, representation of various groups, repudiating strong ethnic sentiments against national sentiment, and eliminating corruption.

However, like the parliamentary system, the presidential system has merits and demerits.

The most significant challenges of the presidential system as practised in Nigeria are fourfold. The first is the tendency of the executive arm to pocket the legislative arm, which has made nonsense of the principle of separation of power, and checks and balances. The US-type presidential system is predicated upon a system of checks and balances. This vital principle does not allow for the rascality of any arm of government that may jeopardise the system. Since the return of democracy in 1999, and it is particularly evident at the sub-national level, this principle has been rendered impotent. Second, the enormous powers exercised by the president and governors tend to be abused and often breed dictatorship. Third, the winner-takes-all-mentality, which leads to the abuse of power of patronage that fuels corruption and exclusion of the majority from mainstream government activities, saps the government’s access to quality leadership potentials within the country. Fourth, the high cost of governance and low accountability have created a government system that is corrupt and overbearing. Our common patrimony is bastardised by a few privileged to be part of the government.

The attempt to revisit the parliamentary system is not unconnected to our current economic challenges, ethnic tensions or separatist agitations, and corruption that has defied solution and gross incompetence of a good number of our political leaders. As a participant-observer, I believe Nigeria’s current governance crisis is less a problem of the system of government and more of political culture, incompetence of operatives and political actors,lack of leadership capacity and moral depravity. Each system has its pros and cons. Any system can be designed,considering local peculiarities and made to work if run by competent persons who subscribe to a common vision and shared core values and are ready to respect the rule of law. Nigeria’s problems of disunity, lack of patriotism, stunted growth, corruption, and leadership incompetence are neither a product of the parliamentary nor presidential system. It is simply a lack of commitment by the elite to democracy, democratic tenets and the common good. Democracy is not just about representative election, which we practice, though with a massive caveat regarding its credibility. It is more about practising its principles , such as the rule of law, upholding fundamental freedoms of the people, accountability of government to the people, security of life and property, and responsible governance that gives dividends of democracy to the people.

Whether Nigeria should transition to a parliamentary system of government is a complex question that involves weighing various factors, including the country’s political culture, multi ethnic setting , historical context, governance challenges, and aspirations for democratic development. Proponents of a parliamentary system argue that it can promote political stability by ensuring a closer alignment between the executive and legislative branches of government. In a parliamentary system, the government is typically formed by the majority party or coalition in the legislature, leading to smoother governance than the potential for gridlock in a presidential system. Also, they argue that parliamentary systems often feature a more transparent chain of accountability, as the executive is directly accountable to the legislature. This can enhance transparency and responsiveness to the electorate’s needs. They further argue that parliamentary systems are more flexible in responding to crises or changing circumstances. If the government loses the legislature’s confidence, it can be replaced swiftly through a vote of no confidence or early elections, allowing quicker course corrections. Lastly, a parliamentary system could better accommodate the representation of various groups by fostering coalition-building and power-sharing among different factions.

Achieving this transition to a parliamentary system requires significant constitutional reforms, which can be lengthy and contentious. It would also necessitate changes to the electoral system and the functioning of government institutions. Nigeria has a long history of presidential governance since gaining independence in 1960. Transitioning to a parliamentary system would represent a departure from this tradition and may encounter resistance from those vested in the current system. Implementing a parliamentary system would require building institutional capacity, training legislators and administrators, and fostering a political culture conducive to coalition-building and consensus-driven decision-making.

A marked difference between the two systems is the cost of governance versus development, which weighs heavily in favour of the parliamentary system. This may be an attraction for proponents of a parliamentary system. However, it would help if you juxtaposed this with which system is more appropriate for governing a diverse multi-ethnic federation and what system has worked best for the most successful federations in the world. Opponents of a transition to a Westminster-style parliamentary system have also argued that switching could aggravate the challenges of governability because of our political parties’ high level of indiscipline, poor political culture, ethnic cleavages, and the multi-ethnic nature of our society.

Ultimately, the decision to transition to a parliamentary system should be guided by careful consideration of the preceding factors and a broad-based consultation and consensus-building among stakeholders. It is essential to assess whether such a change would address Nigeria’s governance’s underlying challenges and contribute to its long-term political stability and development. The inference to draw is that the current agitation is a demand for a new political culture, protest against the high cost of governance, incompetence of the political leadership, bloated bureaucracy, and poor governance outcomes. There is no definite study to show a relationship between a system of government, thriving democracy, and a high standard of living. Nigeria’s problem is not necessarily the system of government we practice but the leadership deficit among the political operatives and actors. No matter which system is in place, we will have the same results as we are seeing now if the same morally jaundiced and intellectually bankrupt political actors hijack power and rule in their narrow, selfish interests. That is our bane. That is what we must change to survive.

April 1, 2024
CARTOON OF THE DAY: Why Nigeria should return to parliamentary govt

February 20, 2024
Tinubu, hope and unpatriotic Nigerians – By Ugoji Egbujo

By Ugoji Egbujo

The president has tried his best to restore hope. But hope has become so elusive. He floated the naira, and it started floundering to embarrass the government. The masses must endure and help the president not to lose his own hope. So once we gather at official ceremonies, we must stand and recite the pledge. That is all he is asking for, for now. These things are done in North Korea to show loyalty and patriotism. We will sing the national anthem, sing the pledge and sing ‘On Your Mandate’. We are not the only hungry people in the world.

If foreign investors see us singing the Pledge and Mandate happily, they might overlook the bandits, who have chased away farmers from farms, and bring in the elusive dollars for us to enjoy. As the president has said, we must emulate the Super Eagles. They didn’t lose hope when he told them they were playing boring football. And we can all see the reward. The APC governors have patriotically sent them 200 million naira to renew their hopes. Our Foreign creditors will like that.

The President has begged us to stop painting our country in bad light. We are not children. Therefore, we must stifle and squash all news on rampant kidnapping, bad roads, corruption and food inflation. After all, these things happen in other countries, too. When people are kidnapped, we must go to our churches and mosques to pray quietly for the country. When we gather money and pay ransoms to free our relatives from captivity, we must agree with the security agencies that they stormed the bushes and defeated the bandits and rescued the hostages.

Because if we allow the security agencies to take the glory, our country will be seen as a serious country where crime and impunity do not reign. We can’t go about tweeting pictures of the battered bodies of murdered Ekiti Obas being thrown into the back of a pick-up vehicle. Is that how we want to attract tourists? We must help a government that wants to restore hope in tourism to stabilize the naira. So, our youths on social media must patriotically let sleeping dogs lie sometimes.

Then, the issue of petrol cost. Hairdressers are even complaining. Our mothers didn’t use electricity to do these things. This government means well. It removed petrol subsidies to save the country, and fuel prices jumped. When it saw the masses crying, it decided to borrow money to distribute N8000 to millions of households. Only a magnanimous president would have bothered. Since then, hasn’t he suffered trying to give workers a new minimum wage?

Even though the naira he has been trying to help with his world-class financial engineering skills ingenuity has been disgracing itself, he has resisted pressures from international agencies to remove the subsidy, which has smuggled itself back to drain the treasury. That shows he is an astute president. He fights today and runs away to fight another day. Let nobody deceive himself by thinking that the president is afraid of the social repercussions of subsidy removal. He is courageous and methodical. At the right time, he will treat the stubbornness of petrol subsidy. Though a brave man, should he hurry to swallow something larger than his anus?

Patriotism entails the ability to stomach hardship in the interest of national unity. But Nigerians are Jeremiahs. Because of a slight change in the price of rice and bread, some disgruntled women allowed themselves to be used in Minna, Niger state. They must think they are hungrier than Imo women who are suffering and smiling and sitting at home on Mondays. Do they believe the government doesn’t know they are hired agents of political destabilization pretending to be hungry?

How can a bunch of people enjoying the low cost of living in Africa be crying and disturbing a hardworking government? Even if the price of rice, beans and cement have increased sharply in the last month, is that why some people in Kano joined with placards bearing inscriptions in King’s English to scare the government. But not minding the minnows and the mischievous rabble-rousing political masterminds using them to sow disunity from the shadows, the government has graciously decided to share food to quieten them.

Yes, it’s an unprecedented achievement. Which other government in the history of this country shared food from the national reserves when there was no emergency or natural disaster, and just after sharing borrowed money? The government is bending over backwards because it’s a listening and humane government. But some people think the government is timid and afraid of protests in the north. Let them remember that the security agencies are equipped to deal with troublemakers. After all, we have just acquired additional helicopters and weapons for about one billion dollars. Yes dollars. Nobody should test the resolve of this government.

If unpatriotic people can’t emulate the Super Eagles, they should at least emulate the great Wole Soyinka. Instead of bad-mouthing the federal government, the erudite professor said he wouldn’t hold the government to account until after one year. Even if the naira falls to 5000 per dollar and people start dropping off in the streets, he will be quiet for about a year. That is patriotism. The only people he will focus on now are the Gbajue people, who tried to truncate our democracy with their noise in 2023. They are the people that should get the heat. It’s even possible that the Gbajue dissidents, rather than unscrupulous banks and thieving politicians, are responsible for the rascally behaviour of the naira. If the market women in Minna had emulated the professor, the police wouldn’t have arrested their leaders for disturbing the government.

Patriotism means a government must be allowed to settle down. But these people on social media exaggerate things to sow ideas in the army. The president goes to France to rest, and they shout that he is sick. The government shares borrowed money, and they cry that politicians are carting away our national patrimony through sham Palliative Schemes. Betta Edu and Kogi airport notwithstanding, the social media critics are truly a mob of nattering nitwits.

How can they accuse the president of practising ‘share the money’. Wasn’t it this president who discovered that the then ruling PDP used ‘Share the money’ philosophy to bankrupt the country under Jonathan? If the Tinubu government has derailed hopelessly, as they are insinuating, how did the Super Eagles reach the AFCON final? Haven’t these folks heard the NFF testify that the Super Eagles reached the final because they keyed into the president’s renewed hope vision by manifesting ‘No gree for anybody’? Unpatriotic people will start 2013 whataboutery now.

The president should ‘not gree for anybody’ who thinks he has renewed Sapa. It is true he had promised to recruit 50 million youths into the armed forces to cure youth unemployment and stop the insurgencies and banditry. But is that enough to warrant the acidic criticisms? They should give him his eight years and see. Can’t they see that the price of agbado and beans has skyrocketed and affected the plan? They should give him time. But casting aspersions and making the president lose hope is not good. They are even digging up the president’s tweets against Jonathan to justify their unpatriotism. Times have changed. That was the Shoeless age. This is the Emilokan era. Unpatriotic people should focus on their governors and local government chairmen.

The youths don’t know they are a major part of the problem themselves. Yahoo Yahoo and banditry are perpetrated by the youths. Are they the only jobless youths in Africa? They can’t find jobs and so? Jobs are online. The other day, the CBN governor revealed that one of the principal causes of the naira depreciation is the number of young Nigerians seeking foreign education abroad. Yet these young people think the politicians and bankers are consuming the dollars.

Politicians only buy delegates and run political transactions in dollars to avoid EFCC. The youths carry dollars and hand over to oyibo universities. Can’t these young people stay at home and study here? Even if the standard of education has fallen, can’t they just get the education like that and use it to do political, military, police and civil service jobs here? Some lazy youths said the CBN governor was told half-truths to the House of Reps.

These youths are irreverent. They said if the CBN governor wasn’t an analogue civil servant, he would have factored in foreign remittances of about 20 billion dollars per annum before insinuating that the one billion dollars spent annually on foreign education was wasteful. They even said that the CBN governor craftily didn’t go into details of medical tourism to avoid irritating the president, who was resting in France. It is youthful insolence rather than corruption that is killing the country. Imagine asking the CBN governor if the dollars the Federal government wasted on the 400 people sent to cheer the president at the climate change conference in Dubai was captured under foreign education.

Trouble is brewing, but telling the government that it is wallowing in self-deceit is unpatriotic. So, patriots are quiet, and the country is teetering on the brink.

February 18, 2024
Dantata endorses parliamentary system of govt

Kano-based business mogul Aminu Dantata has expressed support for the move by some members of the National Assembly (NASS) to adopt the Parliamentary System of government in Nigeria.

TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Dantata is a former parliamentarian in the First Republic.

Speaking in Kano while receiving the delegation of 60 members of the House of Representatives seeking for the return to the Parliamentary System of government, Dantata described the move as the best thing to happen to the country.

He said that Nigeria would be great again if the system was adopted while noting that the current Presidential System practised in the country was unmanageable and costly, hence the need for change.

Dantata said Nigeria had suffered enough in the Presidential System and nothing seemed to be working, prompting the urgent need to adopt the parliamentary seriously.

“Things are not working; the country is stagnant and the citizens are not enjoying anything out of it, so there should be a serious move to adopt the Parliamentary System so that Nigeria would be great.”

Dantata cautioned the legislators seeking for the adoption of the System to be wary of personal interests because doing contrary would kill the spirit of the mission and render it rejected.

The leader of the delegation, Rep. Kingsley Chinda (PDP-Rivers) noted that the system being operated now was costly and cumbersome, making it difficult to operate.

He said the Parliamentary System allowed true system of democracy to fully come to fruition and also gave the grassroots people the opportunity to come on board in governance.

He said, “Even the prime minister will be choosing from the National Assembly and other governors and any attempt for them to go astray will be tackled easily by the members.”

Chinda urged Nigerians and the media particularly, to support the course because Nigerians would be the greatest beneficiaries at the end.

He said the nation could not continue to be robbed of its wealth under the guise of presidential government.

Recall that on Wednesday, a group of 60 federal lawmakers proposed an amendment to the 1999 constitution for a departure from the presidential system of government to the parliamentary system of government.

The federal lawmakers on Thursday met with the Kano-based businessman to seek his support.

Dantata, who rarely speaks on political issues in the country, shared his thoughts on the proposal by the lawmakers. He said the parliamentary system of government is the way forward.

The Minority Leader of the House led the team is confident that the parliamentary system of government would bring an end to Nigeria’s challenges.

Parliamentary system of government is a democratic form of government in which the party (or a coalition of parties) with the greatest representation in the parliament (legislature) forms the government, its leader becoming prime minister or chancellor.

February 15, 2024
For Presidential system not to kill us, can we go back to Parliamentary System, By Mideno Bayagbon

By Mideno Bayagbon
(08055069059 Whatsapp)

An overwhelming number of Nigerians reacted to my column last week Wednesday calling for the scrapping of the presidential system of government which I described as being too expensive, too profligate, too corruption-enabled to succeed here. I had concluded that we either kill it, or it will be the death of Nigeria. But before taking some of the reactions, let’s take a look at a possible, alternative, though not perfect, that we could engineer to take its place.

As it is, Nigeria is drowning in the cesspit that our politicians have pushed it into through the presidential system. True, some have argued that the presidential system is best suited for a federation, is stable, and afford the citizens the opportunity to collectively decide who should rule over them as President, Governors and parliamentarians. What was, however, not envisaged in such a postulation is the emperor-like, nepotistic, profligate and corrupt variant which has held Nigeria down in the last 22 years. What was not envisaged is the capacity of our politicians to twist logic and reason to nightmare, the sort that the nation is stewing in today.

What is most painful in all of these is the fact that it has killed all routes to creating and engendering good leadership. The worse of us, with enough Naira and dollar dunlops, fierce bravado that easily sheds innocent blood and manipulate the system to their advantage, have ruled the roost. Which is why i am joining the millions of Nigerians who are tired of the tomfoolery going on, in calling for the scrapping of the presidential system and in its place the Parliamentary System of Government be enthroned. It is not perfect, has its own hiccups, but the advantages are self evident.

For a start, this is a system which encourages good leadership; that empowers a leadership that has been tried and known. Great leaders emerge, as we experienced during the first Republic, which threw up some of the greatest leaders the country has ever produced. Recall, that it was when we were practicing the Parliamentary System that such great leaders like Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, the Sarduana Sokoto, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Alhaji Aminu Kano, among others, emerged. Till today, we have not been able to replicate this high cadre of leadership in any part of the country. The Parliamentary System brought the best and brightest to lead their parties, both in and out of parliament. It stimulates and encourages the parties to try frantically to outdo each other in providing good governance in all the areas they control.

The opposition is active and keeps the ruling power in great check. The advantage is that government is daily held accountable for its actions in parliament. Every major action of government will have to be defended, explained and agreed on, in parliament. The Prime Minister is routinely grilled and there is no room for him, or any one in government, to develop wings and start behaving like an all conquering emperor the type we have had to deal with in our recent Presidential System history. For an example, a Prime Minister Mohammadu Buhari would have been a far different ruler than the current President Mohammadu Buhari. In the first place, it would have been near impossible for him to have been elected Prime Minister being a reserved and taciturn man by nature. His educational failings and lack of basic world, IT and economic knowledge could have put paid to his ambition. Even if he got elected to parliament, it would have been difficult to have him as party leader because he would have had to daily square up with party leaders in opposing parties who do not suffer his handicaps. Some say this is nearly impossible in Nigeria because we have politicians who speak with money, without any consideration and concern for those who voted them into office.

Parliamentary System is a money saver, will decapitate corruption and encourage those who truly want to serve the people. Take the instance of those who want to contest elections. A Prime Ministerial candidate does not need to canvass the entire country, like a Presidential candidate must of necessity do, with all the expensive campaigns we have witnessed in the past. Today, no one who wants to be president of Nigeria can get elected if all he has to fund his ambition is a paltry, yet humongous N50 billion, at least N10 billion of which is his personal fund. A Prime Ministerial candidate, as leader of his/her party only needs to win in his/her constituency and the party wins majority of seats in the parliamentary election. He will for example only need to win the equivalent of a House of Representative constituency.

Only the leader/party with the best policies emerge Prime Minister. The party must convince the electorate that its policies and programmes will better cater to the nation and peoples interest than the other parties. They are the ones who are better able to convince the people that they have the right people to implement their policies and take the country and people a notch higher in the comity of nations. Those who distinguish themselves are rewarded with higher pecks of positions in the party. They grow in leadership and governing skills, honing not just their legislative abilities but also their executive capacities. This becomes not just a training field but also a leadership development programme for the country. You must distinguish yourself in both parliamentary and executive roles in the eyes of your colleagues and the public.

A Parliamentary System merges the three arms of government. The Executive branch is peopled by members of Parliament. The head of government, who is the Prime Minister, picks his/her cabinet from party members of parliament. The Opposition party leader also forms a shadow cabinet from the party’s members in parliament and it is their duty to keep the ministers on their toes. The only problem however, is that those who make politics the first line of business in Nigeria will rise in ferocity to fight against anything that will threaten their avarice and illicit trade.

You can imagine the level of savings this will entail. In the current presidential constitution of Nigeria, each state must have a ministerial slot, while each of the six geographical zones are also represented with all the attendant huge financial implications. The Parliamentary System is capable of bringing down the cost of governance by at least 40 percent. The era of members of the National Assembly acting as Lords and allocating stupendous salaries, constituency allowances, exotic cars, palatial mansions, and the general pilferage going on in the name of being lawmakers would be eliminated or drastically reduced. Becoming members of parliament or ministers will no longer be the easy road to unearned wealth.

The icing on the cake is that a PM who is seen as having failed in his/her duties can have his party members rebelled against him or a Vote of No Confidence can be raised and passed against him/her. Just like it happened in the United Kingdom recently. Two PMs lost their coveted positions to the Brexit campaigns which saw the United Kingdom pull out of the European Union. David Cameron, under whom the vote was taken and Theresa May who was expected to do the needful, kissed the dust because they could not easily disengage the United Kingdom from the EU after the people had voted. They had the door shut against them and their fellow party member, Boris Johnson, who instigated some of the fallouts, is today Prime Minister and Teresa May who he replaced is on the back benches of parliament. It is either you perform creditably or you go.

We need this kind of spirit behind the Nigerian government where, whoever is expected as president can expect to stay in power for eight years no matter his/her capacity to perform. As we all know, the various parliaments, National Assembly and State Assemblies, are but genuflecting appendages to either the President or Governor. How long shall we allow ourselves to be so ruined while the rest of the world marches on in progressive leaps?

November 24, 2021
Lawyers lock horns with Sen. Ajibola over LG parliamentary system in Osun

Two legal practitioners have reacted to Senator Basir Ajibola, Representing Osun Central Senatorial District, of Osun State on the position of the member representing Obokun/Oriade Federal Constituency of Osun, Hon Busayo Wole Oke over the parliamentary system being practiced in Osun, describing it as baseless

Hon Oke, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had at the weekend faulted the subsisting parliamentary system of government being practiced in the administration of the local governments across the state and called for adjustment in line with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution as Amended.

Reacting to the development, Senator Ajibola, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, said that the statement of Hon. Oke depicted ignorance of the subject matter.

He claimed that the motive of the lawmaker in raising this issue now was suspect, because the local government law had been operational more than two years ago, adding that one wonders how he suddenly woke up to dream of unconstionality.

However, in different statements made available to newsmen in Abuja by two Legal Practitioners, Kanmi Ajibola Esq, former Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Chairman, Ilesha Branch and an Ibadan based legal luminary, Barrister Yemi Giwa condemned what they described as uncivil language used by Senator Ajibola against Oke.

While defending Hon Oke, Kanmi Ajibola said that the parliamentary system in the administration of local government in Osun State was a constitutional abberation and oddity which must be addressed immediately in the interest of the People of the state.

According to him, “during the tenure of office of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as the governor of Osun State, among others, two ignominious onslaughts were uncorked against the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the advice of the then Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, now a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Ajibola Bashiru. For the reasons best known to him, he has made Osun state a subject of constitutional controversy to date

“The two blitzkriegs against the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria are changing the name of Osun state to ‘State of Osun’ and introducing Parliamentary System of Government into the administration of Local Government in Osun State. Interestingly, Osun state is the only state in Nigeria where this revolting rebellion exists against the Nigerian constitution and unchecked by the Federal Government.”

The lawyer said that the position of Hon Oke was on the legality or otherwise of the parliamentary system in the administration of Local Government in Osun state, adding that Hon. Oke, a federal lawmaker in the National Assembly from Osun state expressed his views on parliamentary system of government in the Local Government administration in Osun state and described it as illegal and unconstitutional.

Kanmi Ajibola said the question that should be asked is, whether parliamentary system being employed in the administration of Local Governments in Osun state is legal and constitutional.

According to him, “by the provision of Section 2 (2) of the 1999 constitution (as amended), it provides that: ‘Nigeria shall be Federation consisting of States and a Federal Capital Territory.’

“Section 3 (1) contains all the names of the thirty-six states that make up the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“Section 3 (2) directs us to the first column of part 1 of the first schedule where all the names of the Local Government Areas that make up each states are listed.

“The import and linkage of this is that, without Local Government Areas there cannot be a state and where there are no states there cannot be the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

On his part, Barrister Giwa described Senator Basiru’s crictism of Honourable Oke’s condemnation of operations of Parliamentary System of Government at the Local Government Levels of Government as amusing, “It is amusingly displeasing and odious.”

Barr. Giwa who is an indigene of Osun said “it is displeasing to read the opposing views of two Federal lawmakers from Osun State, over the (un)constitutionality of the parliamentary system adopted by Osun State at its local government level.

“It’s not the topic that is disturbing but the way and manner the two high ranking politicians are vituperating over the issue. It is nauseating and to say the least unparliamentarian.

“Honourable Oluwole Oke,representing Obokun/Oriade Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives, Osun State and Distinguished Senator Ajibola Basiru representing Osun Central Senatorial Constituency comments on the matter are trending in the social media. It is unwarranted brickbats”

Mr. Giwa who lamented the misinterpretation of potency of the law on operations of Parliamentary and Presidential system of Government, added that such system of government is alien to Nigeria construction.

“As long as our system of government remains presidential such system cannot fly because it is alien and an affront to the constitution of the federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999(as amended).”

He condemned the use of language of Senator Ajibola as “raw and uncourteous,” adding, “I am a bit disappointed in the Senator. I am by God’s grace a lawyer who has had about two decades consolidated fruitful practice. I cannot situate Bashiru’s postulation anywhere in our mother law– constitution.

“I sufficiently know the intellectual and oratorical prowess of the two legislators, but I can conviniently say that the Distinguished Senator has prevaricated and turned the law upside down.

“What Osun State is practicing at the local level dubbed parliamentary system is execrable and despicable in civilized clime”, Giwa said.

He however opined that “the whole excercise will soon crumble like the way the ‘state of Osun’ crumbled and the obnoxious educational policies died in the state.”

Meanwhile, the Osun State House of Assembly has commenced the amendment of the State Local Government Administration Act 2015.

As the time of filing the report, it was not known whether the lawmaker fts would amend the lacuna by removing State of Osun and switch to Presidential System in compliance with the Constitution.

May 21, 2020