Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, says it
will be beneficial for Nigeria to return to the
parliamentary system of government.
He argued that the Nigerian political
environment was not mature for a
presidential system of government.
Aregbesola said this at the inauguration of the
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Legislative
Building in Amuwo Odofin Local Government
Secretariat.
According to Aregbesola, the best form of
government for all nascent democracies is a
parliamentary system of government.
The presidential system of government,
according to him, has a high tendency to
breed dictatorship. He likened the president
of Nigeria to a demigod who is over and above
everyone and everything.
He further stated that the excessive power of
the president was the reason behind the
desperation of politicians to acquire and
retain power at all cost.
He said, “I am a strong opponent of the
presidential system of government,
particularly in an immature political
environment like ours. There is a very high
tendency for absolutism to develop in a
presidential system of government.
“The best form of government for all nascent
democracies is the parliamentary system of
government because the legitimacy of the
government in a parliamentary system is in
the House (legislature), not elsewhere like we
have in Nigeria.
“That is why we are battling with an imperial
presidency in Nigeria. The president of
Nigeria, by the provisions of the constitution,
is a demigod. There is nothing beyond him.
This explains the desperation to hold on to the
power of the presidency and the desperation
to get that power from whoever is holding it,
is beyond human comprehension, which
should not be the case.
“To break free from the mess that we have
found ourselves, one of the things we must do
is to revert to the parliamentary system of
government where power resides absolutely
with the legislature.”
The governor noted that he was part of the
inauguration of the legislative building
because it was a way of advocating the return
to the parliamentary system of government.
Source dailytimes.
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