TheCable

Aminu Dantata, former board chairman of the Northern Nigeria Flour Mills Plc (NNFM), says the presidential system of government is “too expensive” for Nigeria to run.

He spoke on Wednesday when he received a delegation of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) led by Ango Abdullahi at his residence in Kano.

The NEF was in Kano on a condolence visit to the family of Bashir Tofa, former presidential candidate of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC).

According to family sources, Tofa died at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) in the early hours of Monday after a brief illness.

Speaking when the NEF visited his residence, Dantata said Nigeria needs to review the constitution and adopt a parliamentary system, which he said is “less expensive” to operate.

The major difference between the two systems of government is that in a presidential system, the president is directly voted into power by the people while in a parliamentary system, the unicameral legislature holds supreme and votes a prime minister into power.

Dantata said the constitution should be amended to reflect the current realities in the country.

“You will agree with me that the presidential system of government presently in operation has failed the nation what we need now is to adopt the parliamentary system which is less expensive,” he said.

He added that the government needs to take “desperate measures” to tackle the challenges confronting the country.