A former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Obong Victor Attah, has called for the scrapping of the presidential system of government, saying it cannot succeed in Nigeria.
He said Nigeria’s problem was beyond governance adding that what the country needs is a rebirth.
Attah said this in an interview with newsmen in Uyo on Wednesday. He was reacting to questions about the ongoing nationwide #EndSARS protests.
According to him, Nigeria was better off when it operated a parliamentary system of government because the regions were autonomous, controlled their resources, had their own Police and only contributed to the central government.
Attah noted that the challenge confronting Nigeria today “goes beyond governance. If you bring angels, (and I’m not blaspheming) to operate the system we have today, it would fail. The system is one that cannot succeed.”
He said, “I call it rebirth. I want Nigeria to be reborn. Let’s give it a new birth, let it become what it was always supposed to be: a federal system and preferably, I say preferably because some people still feel enamoured with this Presidential system, I am not.
“The presidential system has become very oppressive. It seems it is in our nature to feel once you win an election, you are a conqueror, so you behave exactly as you please, nobody can talk to you, you don’t have to see anybody and that’s what is happening and we abuse it.
“That’s why I say we are not mentally prepared for this presidential system. We are not ready; that’s one of the reasons I say scrap it, go back to the parliamentary system. In the parliamentary system, if you have a good prime minister like Britain had Margaret Thatcher, you can come back four or five times if your people want you back.”
PUNCH
