OSUN State governor, Mr Rauf Aregbesola, on Tuesday evening said his administration adopted a parliamentary system of governance at local government level to entrench genuine democratic tenets and also comply with the general wish of the people.
He maintained that it was the overwhelming wish of the people, as contained in the report of the Barrister Gbadegesin Adedeji led the committee on political reforms that parliamentary system of government is adopted, saying the state government only complied with the wish of the people.
Aregbesola made these disclosures while addressing the people at the swearing-in ceremony for 389 councillors, representing wards in the Local Governments, Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) Area Councils and Administrative Offices, held at the state secretariat, Abere, Osogbo.
He contended that the experience in the First Republic attested to the fact that parliamentary system deepened democracy and offered far greater political representation and governance effectiveness than any other system.
According to Aregbesola, “the decision to adopt parliamentary system of government was also in fulfilment of Section 7 (1) of the Nigerian constitution that requires that ‘The system of local government by democratically elected local government councils is under this Constitution guaranteed; and accordingly, the Government of every State shall, subject to section 8 of this Constitution, ensure their existence under a Law which provides for the establishment, structure, composition, finance and functions of such councils”.
He maintained that the action of the state in adopting the new system was not in anyway against the constitution or contrary to the tenets of democracy but rather helps to galvanize good governance and effective representation.
Aregbesola, who emphasised that parliamentary system is more democratic, compared to the executives, with its traits of dictatorship, arbitrariness and absolutism averred that “our decision is not against the constitution, as quoted earlier. Nowhere did it mention executive or parliamentary – only that it must be democratic – and parliamentary system is as democratic as you can ever get.”
He stated further that “you will recall that in 2012, the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria asked for a memorandum on the review of the 1999 Constitution. A 15-man committee was set up in Osun under the chairmanship of Barrister Gbadegesin Adedeji to aggregate the opinions and views of the state.”
“The committee held public sittings for three weeks during which members of the public, institutions, nongovernmental organisations and others made a submission.”
In the end, it was the overwhelming wish of the people, as stated in the committee’s report, that parliamentary system of government is adopted at all levels of government. What we have done therefore is to defer to the wish of the people in their clamour for a parliamentary system of government”.
“To appreciate this gesture, in a parliamentary system, the executive emerges from and is formed in the parliament, making the members of parliament to be members of the executive as well and the leadership of the executive to be first among equals, primus inter pares,” Aregbesola remarked.
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He, however, tasked the newly elected councillors to be change agents that will transform governance at their local communities and deepen democratic practice with quality representation, adding that, “you must, therefore, listen to your people and give them access. Your status has placed you in a position of leadership, but not in a position of supremacy and tyranny over the people.”
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