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Obasanjo speaks on shift to parliamentary system of govt
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Ex- President Olusegun Obasanjo on Saturday spoke on the need to move from presidential system of government to the parliamentary mode.
Obasanjo said running a parliament comes with its challenges.
Obasanjo, who governed the country as head of state from 1976 to 1979 and as a democratically elected president from 1999 to 2007, stated that elder statesmen like him ought to know better.
The former president clarified his position on the debate when he spoke as a guest of honour at the public presentation of the book “Court and Politics,” authored by Umar Ardo.
Ardo was the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party in the 2023 general election in Adamawa State.
Obasanjo was reacting to the argument raised by a member of the Northern Elders Forum and former vice chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Ango Abdullahi, in favour of the parliamentary system.
Abdullahi declared at the book launch that he was in support of the recent by some lawmakers to return Nigeria to parliamentary democracy.
The former military ruler, who was represented by ex-Niger State Governor, Babangida Aliyu, however, explained that ‘the 24 years of practising presidential system’ in Nigeria were not enough, adding that the most important thing to do was to devolve power and resources from the centre (federal) to the states and local governments level.
He said, “To bring it back home, no matter what you bring, if the political culture is not there—the same attitude, the same people, the same ways of doing things—we are wasting our time. The second issue is that you imported the parliamentary system in 1960 without the requisite political culture to hold it.
“Now you imported the presidential system, and I have heard people say to bring back the parliamentary system again.
“Anybody who remembers the coup of 1966 will associate that coup with the elections of 1965, leading to the killing and murdering of people in the name of politics. No matter what you bring and no matter what you import, if the political culture is not there, it will not work.
According to him, the poor resource management and low productivity among Nigerians are to blame for the nation’s current economic predicament.
Again, the former president faulted Abdullahi for saying the North has failed its people.
The former number one insisted that the leaders and not the followership should be held accountable for the region’s backwardness.
“Don’t say northern Nigeria failed when you produce somebody who does not know what to do. We should be blaming those people,” he stated.
The Defence Headquarters has clarified the recent public discussions surrounding the neutralisation of a prominent terrorist commander, Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki.
A collaborative operation with the United States Africa Command on May 16, 2026, led to the killing of Bilal Al-Minuki.
Following the development, certain media outlets referenced a similar operation from 2024, which involved the elimination of a terrorist commander with the same name.
This has understandably raised questions regarding the identity of the individual who was recently neutralised.
In a statement signed by Somalia Uba, Director of Defence Information, the DHQ said: “It is crucial to note that in the North East region and throughout the Lake Chad Basin, the use of similar or identical names, aliases and nom de guerres is prevalent among ISWAP and Boko Haram terrorists.
“This practice is a deliberate part of their indoctrination strategy, aimed at obscuring identities. This fact has been corroborated over the years during counter-terrorism operations in Northeast Nigeria.
“The Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki who was eliminated on May 16, 2026, has been positively identified through human intelligence and technical surveillance as a senior global operative within the Islamic State network, possessing direct connections to international terrorist coordination, funding and operations across the Sahel. Thus, there is no ambiguity regarding his identity.”
The statement added that the strike represents a significant achievement in the country’s counter-terrorism initiatives.
It said the Armed Forces of Nigeria, in collaboration with the United States, remain dedicated to dismantling terrorist networks and will continue to disseminate verified information through official channels.
It called on the general public and the media to rely solely on authorised sources to prevent confusion arising from coincidental name similarities.
Three aspirants of the All Progressives Congress, APC, who were anointed as consensus candidates by Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State for House of Representatives seats have been disqualified by the party.
The three aspirants endorsed by Aiyedatiwa, who have been screened out, were identified as Tajudeen Adefisoye (Idanre/Ifedore federal constituency), Victor Ategbole (Akoko South-East/South-West federal constituency) and Samuel Arowele (Owo/Ose federal constituency).
Others not cleared along with the governor’s preferred aspirants are Seun Ajongbolo (Akoko South-East/South-West federal constituency), Morufu Ibrahim, Oyeniyi Oseni ((Akoko North-East/North-West) and Olaleye Adedipe (Akoko North-East/North-West).
With the reasons for the disqualification of the aspirants not revealed in a statement issued on Saturday by the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Felix Morka, some aspirants in the state have kicked and condemned the endorsement of the anointed aspirants.
Meanwhile, there was large turnout of APC members on Saturday during the direct primaries conducted across the 203 wards of the state.
In Akur metropolis, party members arrived at the designated wards in their numbers around 8:00 am with the officials of the party doing a headcount of everyone.
At Wards 4, 5, and 8, members of the party were seen queuing behind the poster of the aspirants they are supporting.
Meanwhile, there was an uproar in some of the wards as party faithful lamented that electoral officials were not on the ground to take record of the exercise.
Six suspected Islamic State West Africa Province members, including a bomb expert, were killed early Friday when an improvised explosive device detonated prematurely in Marte Local Government Area.
Security sources told Zagazola Makama that the blast occurred around 7:00 a.m. on May 16, 2026, at Jubilaram while the group was assembling the device. The team was led by Abu Umar, identified as a bomb expert, who died in the explosion along with five other militants. Three others were reportedly injured.
Intelligence assessments say the deceased were part of ISWAP’s IED cell operating along the Marte–Kerenoa–Wulgo axis in the Lake Chad Basin. The explosion destroyed the site, located between Arinna Maimasallaci and Arinna Ciki, and is expected to temporarily disrupt the group’s bomb-making operations in the area.
Military sources said the incident could weaken ISWAP’s capability along key routes in the Marte axis. Authorities are considering follow-up air and ground operations to exploit the disruption.
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