Presidential system cannot work in Nigeria – Victor Attah

 A former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Obong Victor Attah, has said the presidential system of government cannot succeed in Nigeria.

He has therefore called for the scrapping of the system and the adoption of what will be suitable for the country.

He said Nigeria’s problem was beyond governance and that the country needed a rebirth.

Attah said this in an interview with journalists in Uyo on Wednesday while reacting to the issues around the nationwide #EndSARS protests.

He said Nigeria was better off when it operated a parliamentary system of government because the regions were autonomous, controlled their resources, police and only contributed to the central government.

Attah said the nation’s problem today was beyond governance, adding, “If you bring angels, (and I’m not blaspheming) to operate the system we have today, they would fail. The system is one that cannot succeed.”

He also said, “I call it rebirth. I want Nigeria to be reborn. Let’s give it a new birth, let it become what it was always supposed to be: a federal system and preferably, I say preferably because some people still feel enamoured with this Presidential system, I am not.

“The presidential system has become very oppressive. It seems it is in our nature to feel once you win an election, you are a conqueror, so you behave exactly as you please, nobody can talk to you, you don’t have to see anybody and that’s what is happening and we abuse it.

“That’s why I say we are not mentally prepared for this presidential system. We are not ready; that’s one of the reasons I say scrap it, go back to the parliamentary system. In the parliamentary system, if you have a good prime minister like Britain had Margaret Thatcher, you can come back four or five times if your people want you back.”