Lawmakers Seek Ex-President’s Support for Bill to Reintroduce Parliamentary Government [PHOTO]

Olusegun Obasanjo

Lawmakers met with Obasanjo to ask for his backing on a plan to bring back parliamentary rule.

The critical masses should back members of the house of representatives who want to modify the constitution to bring back the parliamentary form of government, according to former president Olusegun Obasanjo.

During a meeting with members of the house of representatives in Abuja on Tuesday, the former president spoke in support of the measure.

The conference, held in Abuja, was one of several meetings aimed at gaining support for the law that had cleared the house of representatives' first reading in February.

Nigeria now has a presidential form of government that permits the president to be chosen directly.

With a less clear division of powers, the legislature selects the prime minister in a parliamentary system.

Nigeria's first republic, which ran from 1960 to 1963, used the parliamentary form of government.

Obasanjo spoke during the meeting, advising the MPs to advance their positions strategically and with a long-term plan in mind.

Though he acknowledges that a change in the political structure is necessary, Obasanjo insisted that the new arrangement must be advantageous to the nation.

He said: “You are preaching to the converted, but as I have said, take the word parliamentary away.

“We need to get the critical masses. Parliamentary and all that once you start that, you have gotten it wrong. Once you do that, you are putting yourself in a fix because there are those who would say: We don't want parliamentary.”

According to Obasanjo, African nations have embraced the liberal democracy brought about by the West and the Europeans, despite the fact that this system is out of step with the continent's values.

“Let me go back to the beginning, where we got it wrong the Western liberal democracy, that is what the Europeans have,” he said.

“When you look at Western liberal democracy, it is a product of their history. A product of their culture. A product of their way of life.

“I have looked into most African languages; Western democracy has what they call loyal opposition. What is opposition in African languages?

“Enemy. Western democracies called oppositions 'loyal' because the oppositions are loyal to the monarchy. That's where their loyal democracy began. They used to have monarchies.

“There is nothing in liberal democracy that is African. We ruled ourselves before the advent of colonialism. We had empires and striving kingdoms. We did not rule ourselves as opposition.

“What is in it for us? I don't know, but you can give it. For lack of an appropriate word, let us call it afro- democracy. That is where we have to begin.”

According to Chinda's remarks, the lawmakers used the word “parliamentary” because they were at a loss for words.

The representative stated that the suggested form of government is “homegrown” and appropriate for the nation.