Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association,Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, has rejected proposals for a six-year single tenure and parliamentary system of government, labeling them as “diversionary”.
In an interview with the Nigerian Tribune, Agbakoba emphasized the need for devolution of power to make states viable, citing the current system’s inefficiency. He argued that transferring authority to states would foster healthy competition and development, reducing the allure of the presidency.
Agbakoba suggested limiting federal involvement to key areas like defense, foreign policy, justice, and economic policy, while delegating other responsibilities to states. This, he believes, would empower governors to better serve their people, reducing their reliance on federal funds.
The former NBA president’s comments come as Nigeria grapples with leadership challenges and debates on constitutional reform. Agbakoba’s stance highlights the need for a more decentralized approach to governance, encouraging state-level innovation and development.
He said: “Propositions about six-year single tenure, parliamentary form of government are absolutely diversionary. It is because people don’t want to face the truth, and the truth is devolve power.
“Forget all this talk about six-year single tenure, is that the problem? The problem is, make the federating units viable. No one will be interested in being Nigeria’s president in the way that we kill ourselves. Six-year single tenure is not the problem.
“A president who has sat down there for four years, if you give him six years, is likely to be worse. The only way forward is to transfer real authority to the states.
“It is just take the constitution that has 98 items of power and give to the states what belongs to the states and leave at the centre what belongs to the centre. Just devolve power from the centre to the states. So the states would be responsible for those things that are clearly better achieved at the state level not at federal level.
“Take education for instance, what is the business of the federal government in education. I can see the federal government dealing with defence policy, foreign policy, justice policy, monetary policy, banking, overall economic policy; everything else should be at the state level so that you don’t have the intense competition for presidential power at one level in Abuja. You will have intense competition across 36 states.
“Today the federal government stifles everything. So there is no initiative. The governors have no powers under the Exclusive List; that is, 68 items of power; they have no power under the 30 remaining items we call Concurrent. So a governor is no more than a ceremonial chief, who has money from the centre, which he abuses to the neglect of his people. Why don’t you empower him so that he has no reason to come to Abuja?”
