…so far so good presidential system has fared better in 29years

…wonders why Senate President, Speaker, media refer to NASS as parliament

Former Governor of Edo State, Senator Oserheimen Osunbor has said the switch from presidential to Parliamentary system of governance being advanced by some Nigerians fails the test of logic and scientific analysis.

The two term senator also wondered why the Nigerian media, Senate President, Speaker refer to National Assembly as Parliament.

Osunbor, a Professor of Law made this disclosure in a chat with journalists in Abuja on Friday.

He said: “It seems to me that most of those advocating the adoption of the parliamentary system are not aware or have forgotten that Nigeria started off in 1960 with a parliamentary system .

“The weakness of that system contributed largely to the collapse of the First Republic,after only five years, in January 1966. By contrast, the presidential system has been practiced for about 29 years now. On this score alone the presidential system has obviously fared better and proved superior to the parliamentary system.

” For them to be persuasive, those calling for the return to the failed parliamentary system should show that they understand the flaws that led to the collapse of the system in the First Republic and convince Nigerians that those weaknesses will not recur.

“Unfortunately, the advocates are not engaging in such logical scrutiny but are simply being sentimental and unscientific in voicing their preference for the parliamentary system.

” The reasons commonly advanced in support of the parliamentary system are firstly , that it is cheaper to operate. Secondly, that the presidential system breeds pseudo-dictatorship as it confers too much powers on the President and Governors.

Osunbor further explained that it is the Nigerian people that make the presidential system expensive and turn executive office holders into pseudo-dictators. Even if we were to return to the parliamentary system the same elected office holders will continue to approve for themselves outrageous emoluments and bogus allowances.

“A Prime Minister and Ministers can still become autocratic if the society accepts or encourages it.

” Example of this can be drawn from some countries that operate the parliamentary system. First Republic Minister of Finance, Festus Okotie- Eboh, was reputed to be very flamboyant, if not extravagant and that was under the parliamentary system.

“Operation Wetie” in Western region and events leading to the Nigerian civil war happened under the parliamentary system.

” Or have we forgotten parliamentarians, some of them illiterate, that rode in the longest American Pontiac that guzzled petrol at 8 miles per gallon.

” I personally have strong reservation against continuous experimentation with our system of governance with attendant political Instability without sound well thought – out reasons. We should not reduce governance to our style of football administration that oscillates like a pendulum from local coach to foreign coach and back to local coach without any improvement on our performance.

“As the immediate past foreign coach G.Rohr, and others before him, have revealed, the main problem with our football performance is lack of commitment, dedication and indiscipline. It has nothing to do with the colour of the skin of the coach. It is about our attitude as Nigerians.

” On a related matter, I cannot understand why many Nigerians, including the media, now refer to our National Assembly as parliament. Even the Senate President and Senators refer to the Senate as parliament. Same with the speaker and members of the House of Representatives.

Whereas the constitution empowers them to enact an Act of the NASS, many of them assert that they’ve passed an Act of Parliament.

The 1963 Constitution , in chapter 5 , vested legislative powers in parliament created in Section 41 thereof but that constitution is now defunct. In its place we now have the 1999 Constitution which, in section 4 , vested legislative powers in a National Assembly consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives, not Parliament.

“There is no reference to “Parliament ” in our current Constitution. I cannot understand why people choose to use a name outside our constitution. The U.S. has a congress, Britain has a parliament and Nigeria has a National Assembly. Is
this too difficult to understand?

Rather than call themselves “this parliament” Senators can say “this Senate” or “this Chamber”. Members of the HoR can say “this House” or “this Chamber”.

” Referring to the National Assembly or each of its two Houses as “Parliament” creates an erroneous impression that we run a parliamentary system.

This can be confusing to many especially foreigners who are not familiar with our constitution. I have had occasion in the past to explain the correct position to a foreign expert who had been under the wrong impression that we operate a hybrid system of the French model due to the indiscriminate use of the term “Parliament” by Nigerians.

” Without changing our attitude to governance we will be perpetually going round in circles by continuously changing from one constitution to another or from one system of governance to another.