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

Mr Opadokun, secretary-general of National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), made the call in an interview in Lagos on Sunday.

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

Mr 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.

Mr Opadokun said the military imposed the present presidential system on the country and had been a stumbling block to realising 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.

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

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

Mr Opadokun said he did not 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 Mr 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.

Mr Opadokun said that the president could return the country to the parliamentary system, 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 is 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)