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Presidential or Parliamentary system of government?

By Abimbola Akindunbi and Kayode Olabanji
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Mixed reactions have continued to trail the move by some members of the House of Representatives, led by Kingsley China from Rivers state and 70 others, calling for the replacement of presidential system of government being practised in the country, with the parliamentary system. The Hope Classics spoke with renowned politicians, legal luminaries and some prominent Nigerians on the agitation by the lower Chamber.

 

Chief Femi Aluko, Afenifere chieftain

The presidential system in the country is too expensive and inimical to the economic growth of Nigeria.

The practice of parliamentary system of government will do away with nepotism and a large number of personal assistances and be a safe cost device to the country.

Politically and economically, Nigeria can no longer break, even due to corruption in every sector and the over centralisation of power, which have impeded the progress of the country to compete favourably with other developed countries in the world.

Parliamentary may not drastically change the corrupt attitudes of Nigerians. But it will reduce the temptation of being corrupt.

I commend the pioneer lawmakers for their steps and wisdoms in agitating that the country should return to parliamentary government.

In every aspect of life, it is political. And I want to call on the lawmakers to seek  the opinion of Nigerians, as 90 percent of citizens will be in support of parliamentary system of government.

 

Barr. Tolu  Babaleye, legal practitioner

Well, both systems had been practised in Nigeria. At the first Republic, we had parliamentary system. Then, at the Second Republic, we had presidential system.

I think both systems are good. The only thing is the problem we have. If we have the best leadership, the system of government is immaterial.

In fact, there are some countries in this millennium where they still have monarchical system, like in Saudi Arabia.

People in Saudi Arabia are living peacefully because they have responsible leadership.

It is not about the system of government we adopt, but it is about the leadership and who is ready to provide a sincere leadership.

I do not see anything that is wrong in Presidential system. And the way we are calling for Parliamentary, it will be difficult to achieve it because of the bottlenecks associated with our amendment of the constitution.

 

Senator Boluwaji Kunlere

Former member of the National Assembly

I doubt if the idea of going for the parliamentary system of government is the solution to Nigeria’s problem.

In my contrary view, the parliamentary can only be suitable for homogenous society and Nigeria is a highly heterogenous society with different geographies to religion, ethnicity, tribalism, educational development and civilisation.

I support the presidential government as the best for the country, due to the nature of the country.

The problem facing the country is not with the system, but with the operators, political and business class, civil service and technocrats among others.

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True federalism should be implemented. Some senatorial districts and constituencies cannot generate in a year funds to run a district or constituency.

 Some local governments which are not qualified to be local governments are given same amount as allocation, while people without schools claimed to be in educationally advanced stage and claimed revenue mobilisation which surpass their population.

Going down memory lane, corruption is a major problem facing the country, not the system.

The reason was given by some military rulers for overthrowing government from military to military and everyone and all the sectors are still involved in corruption. They are not ghosts, but human beings in the system, from lower to top levels.

Though, it is true that the presidential system is very expensive, but not to the level we are operating it.

I want to suggest reduction in the security votes of governors. Because for the country to enjoy the present system of government (presidential) , the  cost of running must be cut drastically.

You can imagine unaudited security vote of N600 to N700 million without vehicles to the police.

This has gotten to the level that some governors may instigate crisis in their states in order to have more security votes.

Mr Olugbenga Oshindoro,

ZLP Chairman,  Akure South LG

To me personally, there’s nothing wrong with this presidential system we are practising. It only depends on the quality and the type of people we have been having at the helms of affairs in this country over the years. That is why we are having challenges. And that is why it seems the presidential system is defaulting.

If you look at America that we are trying to copy their system of governance, which is the origin of the presidential, at least today, they are managing their economy very well.

Even if we fault the presidential system of government  and we go for parliamentarialism,  you will still discover that if it is the same crop of people that are leading this country presently that is practising parliamentarianism,  then probably  one might be thinking will be far better than presidential. But you will find out that the same results will be coming out.

Look at United Kingdom, the Great Britain; they practise parliamentary system of government. But then, the Prime Minister, May Theresa,  you can see the challenges that she facing in recent time. And she is about to step down in few weeks time.

That is to show you they are really committed to service and not to siphon money or a call to embezzle money. And that is what we are having in our country, Nigeria today. That is why the problem of poverty will continue to be embedded in our economy system today.

I pray that we begin to have a crop of leadership that will have a good orientation, that will have a caring heart for people. That the major priority will be to salvage the majority of Nigerians completely from the pangs of poverty.

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Barr. Charles Titiloye

Legal practitioner

Both members of the parliament are also elected to serve as ministers with the Prime Minister receiving one salary.

The presidential form of government is characterised with the duplication of functions between the executive and the legislative arms of government.

The advantages of check and balances in it cannot be overlooked.

I want to suggest the practice of unicameral at the National Assembly, as a means to cut expenses for the presidential form of government and make it affordable.

The House of Representatives is not necessary and it should be scrapped.

The duty of lawmakers should be made part-time as another means to reduce cost of presidential system of government.

 

Dr. Dayo Agboola, SDP State Secretary

Parliamentary system is a cheaper government to run compared to the expensive  presidential system, with power concentration at the central to control the affairs of a country.

The decentralisation of power in parliamentary system of government hastens economic growth and development. It also helps to find lasting solution to the issue of agitating for restructuring and resource control when compared with the presidential system.

The fight against corruption will not be limited to embezzlement. But it includes, nepotism, bigotry and godfatherism, which will pass through necessary processes.

Under the parliamentary system of government, there will be law and the state police within each state with leaders saddled with responsibilities to serve their communities.

Mr Akintayo Akinfolarin,

political analyst

Going by my own opinion, I will say that presidential system of government is better than parliamentary, if the former is truly practised.

Though, in terms of running cost, presidential system is more expensive. But the advantages are worthwhile than parliamentary, especially in a polity like ours.

Parliamentary is a collective responsibility. If the president is not around, the Prime Minister and other members can take over the responsibility, since there is restriction of responsibility. For them, it gives smooth room for administration. Policy of the government are made and implemented by the same body, while there is no room to consult the other house.

In parliamentary system of government, the Head of State only performs the ceremonial functions after being elected through votes. But getting to the office, he will appoint the Prime Minister from members of the parliament. Then, the Prime Minister will be the one to carry out real executive functions. In parliamentary system, the executive members are also the legislative. Their responsibilities are fixed together.

They make laws and interpret it themselves. They make policy and they implement it. No security of tenure. If the Prime Minister has issues, it will affect all the party members and give room to the opposition to rule.

There is no check and balance in the administration. Nobody to check the other arm.

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Unlike presidential system, where they have fixed responsibility and also there is check and balance, whereby the legislative can check the executive.

In presidential system, they consult the legislatives in order to run a smooth government.

In my view, presidential system is more preferable to parliamentary system.

 

Mr Tosin Sunday Eye, legal practitioner

Parliamentary form of government represents a system of democratic governance of a country, wherein the executive branch is derived from the legislative body, i.e. the Parliament/Legislature.

Thus, the executive is divided into two parts, the Head of the State, i.e. President, who is only the nominal executive and the Head of the Government, i.e. Prime Minister, who is the real executive.

This system of government is practiced in the United Kingdom, India, Japan and Canada.

Whereas, a presidential system of government means there is only one person as the head of the state and government, i.e. the President. The election of the President is made directly by the citizens of the country or sometimes by the members of the Electoral College for a fixed period.

The President elects some ministers as the Secretary and forms a small Cabinet, who assist in governing the country. Neither the President nor the Secretaries are accountable to the Legislature (Parliament) for their acts as they are not members of either part of the Federal Legislature.

The parliamentary system of government has dual executive (one being ceremonial and the other,  Head of Government). While the presidential system of Government has only a single executive who is termed, “The President.”

The tenure of the executive is not fixed in parliamentary government, except a no confidence motion is passed in the parliament, and the Council of Ministers is dismissed. Contrary to this, the executive has a fixed term in the presidential government.

Presidential system yields a strong and clear executive. This is important, especially in times of crisis or war. The cabinet serves at the pleasure of the president and has little independent authority.

Indeed, in a parliamentary system, it is often the cabinet that makes decisions collectively, rather than the president making them unilaterally.

In both systems, you need checks and balances to ensure that the executive is not too powerful. Advantages of presidential form of government is that it ensures stability of the government. The executive can carry on with its policy till the end of its full term. It helps in bringing stability to the administration. In this system, decisions can be taken speedily and implemented effectively.

The executive, in a parliamentary system is ridden with indecision due to political pressures. Therefore, it is difficult to take decisions promptly.

A close look at the features of the two systems reveals that the presidential system of government is better than parliamentary system as it allows check and balances and the electorates are more involved in the process of choosing the president that governs them, unlike the parliamentary system.

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