Aregbesola condemns Nigeria’s presidential system

Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola
| credits: File copy

Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola on Monday said the presidential system of government in operation in Nigeria was wrong.

The governor said the nation should abandon the presidential system because of its attendant bloated cost of governance and adopt parliamentary system in its stead.

He said this in an interview monitored by our correspondent on Channels Television in Lagos on Monday.

He said the fusion of executive and the legislature in the parliamentary system would help to cut down the cost of maintaining government officials.

“I want to say that if we are interested in ensuring real value and effective derivation of our limited resources as a nation, we should abandon the executive presidential system and adopt the parliamentary system of government,” the governor said.

He opposed the presidential system while responding to a question about the likely impact of his administration’s executive bill to create additional 27 Local Government Areas on the cost of governance in the state. Osun State currently has 30 local government areas.

The governor said, “We are so concerned about the expensive architecture of government in Nigeria. If I have my way, my recommendation to Nigerians is that we abandon the executive presidential system. It is wasteful. No serious developing nation must look at it or even consider it as its own structure of government. It is expensive, it is cumbersome, and it is out of tune with our own nature.”

He said given the judgment of the Supreme Court in the dispute between the Lagos State Government and the Federal Government, it would not be necessary for Osun State to seek the approval of the National Assembly to create additional local governments.

“It is only when you want such creations to receive allocation from the centre, that is, from the federation account, that the approval of the National Assembly is required,” he said.