Opadokun Seeks Return to Parliamentary System of Govt

A chieftain of Afenifere, Pa Ayo Opadokun, has called on President Bola Tinubu to take steps to return Nigeria to  parliamentary system of government, upon which the country secured her independence.

Opadokun, Secretary-General of National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Sunday.

NAN reports that Nigeria operated the parliamentary system of government from 1960 to 1966.

Opadokun said re-adopting the parliamentary system of government would address governance and development challenges confronting the country.

He said during the First Republic when the parliamentary system of government was in operation , Nigeria fared well in all  the indices of good governance and development.

Opadokun said the present presidential system  was imposed on the country by the military  and had been a stumbling block to the  realisation of the nation’s aspirations.

“It is important to note that NADECO has been advocating the country’s return to the parliamentary form of government even before Tinubu became the president.

“It was the military that abrogated the federal constitution when they captured Nigeria in 1966.

“They later foisted upon us an executive presidential system that is only practised in the U.S. They didn’t give enough thought to what they did.

“One of the important things that should be done by the  present administration is to return Nigeria  to the constitutional governance upon which we secured our independence”,he said.

Opadokun said the parliamentary system of government  guaranteed the efficient use of resources of the different regions of the country when it was practised.

“Also, the parliamentary system is cost- effective  and it makes  leadership responsible to the citizens” he added.

Opadokun said he had no quarrel with the concept of restructuring, noting  that some of the problems restructuring seeks to address would be taken care of with the return of the  parliamentary system of government.

The Afenifere chieftain said he believed Tinubu had everything required  to deliver good governance in the country.

He said  the president had great economic expertise and urged him to deploy it quickly to lift the country out of the present economic doldrums.

Opadokun  said returning the country to parliamentary system could be done by the president,given his  political  experience and his electoral promise that he would do his best for the country.

“He knows what we fought for,but he should not leave the constitutional issue till he has accomplished his economic turnaround, which is a bread-and-butter matter.

“It also necessary and important,but the much more fundamental matter is a return to the federal constitutional arrangement upon which we secured our independence.

“That is the only thing that will put his name in gold because Nigerians did not request a centralised form of governance”,he said.

 (NAN)