Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, has highlighted the importance of transitioning Nigeria back to a parliamentary system of government. Speaking at a lecture at Harvard Law School in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, Obi emphasized the need for a system where the president can engage with citizens on a regular basis.
According to Obi, the current presidential system in Nigeria is ineffective, leading to prolonged leadership tenures without accountability. He pointed out that under a parliamentary system, leaders can be held accountable through mechanisms like motions of no confidence, ensuring more responsive governance.
In a parliamentary setup, the president would also serve as a member of parliament, requiring them to directly address questions from elected representatives. This contrasts with the current scenario where leaders can avoid accountability by delegating communication to others.
Obi said, “What happens is, because of the presidential system that has no president in Nigeria today, we have a bad leader and he stays there for four years. When we have a parliamentary system, we can move a motion of no confidence within two or three years.“
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“If we are in a parliamentary system, a president will be a member of parliament.“
“Today, if you elect me as president of Nigeria or governor, I can remove myself entirely from being answerable to the people, just hire a gang of lunatics, talking rubbish every day.“
“While, if it is a parliamentary system, during the president’s question time, he has to answer. He doesn’t have to hire anybody to speak for him.“
“A president in Nigeria can decide not to talk to anybody for one year and nobody cares because he has hired all these people who do the talking. If you say anything, they call you names, they do this.“
“So, we need a parliamentary system where the president will be a member of parliament and will at least, even if it is once a month, answer the people who elected him; because we didn’t elect all these gangsters. We elected somebody and we want the person to talk to us.”
