‘Current system not working’ — Olusegun Aganga backs bill to introduce parliamentary government

Olusegun Aganga, former minister of finance, has endorsed the bill seeking to introduce the parliamentary system of government to the country.

Sponsored by 60 lawmakers, the bill passed the first reading at the house of representatives on Wednesday.

Nigeria currently practices a presidential system of government.

The key distinction between both systems lies in how leaders are chosen: In a presidential system, the citizens directly elect the president, whereas, in a parliamentary system, the legislature appoints a prime minister, with a less defined separation of powers.

In a post on X on Friday, Aganga described the bill as a “very important development”.

He asked Nigerians to join the debate on the bill for it to pass through.

The former minister said the current presidential system is “not working” for the country, noting that Nigerians cannot “wait for another 7 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 wrote.

“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.”

Aganga served as minister of finance from 2010 to 2011, after which he was appointed minister of trade and investment, a position he held until 2015.