By Peter Omopo
Former Rivers State governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Tonye Cole, has declared that the presidential system of government currently practised in Nigeria is ill-suited for the country’s unique socio-political context.
Speaking during an appearance on Politics Today, a programme on Channels Television on Friday, Cole called for a complete reassessment of Nigeria’s governance structure, urging the country to adopt a system tailored to its indigenous realities.
“This American system that we call the presidential system in Nigeria – we need to readdress it,” Cole said. “We cannot import the parliamentary system from the UK, and we cannot import the presidential system and expect it to work here.”
He argued that the presidential model is vulnerable to manipulation by a small group of individuals and has failed to produce strong institutions capable of holding public officeholders accountable.
Citing examples from Arab nations and China, Cole said many successful countries have adopted systems of government that reflect their cultural and historical contexts, rather than blindly copying Western models.
“Nigeria had an indigenous political structure before colonisation,” he said. “We had our own system even during the era of the slave trade. So, what are we running from? We must build an African, Nigerian-focused political system.”
Cole emphasized that any sustainable governance model must be rooted in local culture and values, rather than imposed frameworks that conflict with the nation’s identity.
