L
LequteMan
Guest
The Deputy Senate President, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu, on Wednesday in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Uche Anichukwu, in Abuja has called for a modified presidential system of government for effective governance and enduring democracy in Nigeria.
According to the statement Ekweremadu made the call in a presentation, entitled, “Constitution Amendment in an Emerging Democracy: the Nigerian Experience” at the Johns Hopkins University in Washington D.C, U.S.
"The presidential system has often come under criticism for its concentration of powers in the political chief executives.
"It also comes with sectional competition for political offices, expensiveness, and promotion of the politics of strong men, rather than strong institutions, "he said.
Ekweremadu said that though the parliamentary system looked attractive, it, nevertheless, failed the country in the First Republic.
He said that the challenges of governance in Nigeria were not essentially the choice of governmental system, “but the warped implementation of these systems.
"Nigeria needed to inject some elements of parliamentary system to entrench greater accountability and cohesion in governance.
"I suggest a hybrid system or modification of the present presidential system to introduce Question Time in the parliament, to hold the ministers consistently accountable.
"We can replace impeachment with a procedure for vote of no confidence to make way for early elections when the need be.”
Ekweremadu listed the tenure of political chief executives, federal structure, fiscal federalism, local government system, policing system, and legislative lists as some of the key issues for constitution amendment in Nigeria.
According to the statement Ekweremadu made the call in a presentation, entitled, “Constitution Amendment in an Emerging Democracy: the Nigerian Experience” at the Johns Hopkins University in Washington D.C, U.S.
"The presidential system has often come under criticism for its concentration of powers in the political chief executives.
"It also comes with sectional competition for political offices, expensiveness, and promotion of the politics of strong men, rather than strong institutions, "he said.
Ekweremadu said that though the parliamentary system looked attractive, it, nevertheless, failed the country in the First Republic.
He said that the challenges of governance in Nigeria were not essentially the choice of governmental system, “but the warped implementation of these systems.
"Nigeria needed to inject some elements of parliamentary system to entrench greater accountability and cohesion in governance.
"I suggest a hybrid system or modification of the present presidential system to introduce Question Time in the parliament, to hold the ministers consistently accountable.
"We can replace impeachment with a procedure for vote of no confidence to make way for early elections when the need be.”
Ekweremadu listed the tenure of political chief executives, federal structure, fiscal federalism, local government system, policing system, and legislative lists as some of the key issues for constitution amendment in Nigeria.
