Ex-Finance minister Aganga backs parliamentary govt bill

Ex-Finance minister Aganga backs parliamentary govt bill

 

A former minister of finance, Olusegun Aganga, has expressed support for the bill seeking that Nigeria returns to the parliamentary system of government.

He stated this in a post on X on Friday, describing the bill as a “very important development” and first step towards transforming Nigeria.

Aganga was minister of finance from 2010 to 2011. He was thereafter appointed minister of trade and investment until 2015.

Some 60 lawmakers sponsored the bill which passed the first reading at the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

Nigeria currently practices a presidential system of government.

While in a presidential system, the citizens directly elect the president, in a parliamentary system, the legislature appoints a prime minister, with a less defined separation of powers.

Aganga urged Nigerians to join the debate for the bill to pass through.

The former minister said the current presidential system was “not working” for the country, noting that Nigerians could not “wait for another seven years”.

“I encourage Nigerians to get involved in the debate and see it through. We may decide to run the parliamentary system with adaptations or come up with our own hybrid of the presidential/parliamentary system that brings out the best in both together in a unique Nigerian way,” Aganga stated.

“Any evolving system must be adapted to address the issues we have with the current system learning from the experiences of the Swiss, UK and many other well-governed nations that have done the same.

“What matters is that it delivers good governance, it is not expensive to run and that the energies of Nigerians at home and in the diaspora come together for the much-awaited transformation of our country.

“As I explained in ‘Reclaiming the Jewel of Africa’, this is the first important step to transform Nigeria and reclaim the Jewel.”