On Wednesday, February 14, sixty members of the House of Representatives introduced a measure to change Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution and replace the current presidential system with a parliamentary one.
Wale Raji, a Lagos State member for the All Progressives Congress, was a main proponent of the measure.
Lawmakers who backed the bill argued that having a parliamentary form of administration would encourage vigorous policy discussions and lower the expense of governance.
In the parliamentary system, the legislature is in charge and chooses a prime minister from among its members to serve as the head of state, in contrast to the presidential system where the president is chosen directly by the people.
The appointment of ministers by parliament further blurs the lines of authority between the legislative and executive branches.
For the bill to become a law and be incorporated in the Constitution, the president’s assent is required.
