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It has now become fashionable for political commentators in Nigeria to always find excuses for our failures with the democratic experiment. Unfortunately, the ongoing strained relationship between the Presidency and the national assembly is giving reasons for some to question the suitability of the presidential system of government. Two systems have been tried namely the Westminster model and the so-called White House model. At a time, there were suggestions for the adoption of the French system and later the so-called Home grown democracy. On the apparent errors of the Obasanjo Presidency, President Obasanjo was quick to point at the fact that they were still in a learning process. So far none of the commentators have stated in clear terms why these systems are not suitable for Nigeria and it seems to me that if the real problems are not identified, Nigeria may end up trying the German, Japanese, and etc systems in a merry-go -round process.

Given that Nigeria has operated the military rule for most part of it's independent existence, one might ask if the Government has made any concerted efforts at educating Nigerians on the differences between both systems of Government-Presidential and Parliamentary? Not much effort has been put in this direction and it is wrong to conclude that the system has failed in Nigeria. Education is a very powerful tool and ignorance is even a very great threat. What most perceive, as the differences in the Presidential and parliamentary systems are very elementary. Unless very elaborate means of education are adopted, our politicians may never understand the workings of the presidential system. For example, to show some of our trend of thoughts, it is common to hear such expressions as EXECUTIVE President or EXECUTIVE Governor. Such terms are not in vogue in the US system even though the Governors have executive powers. The way we emphasize the term in Nigeria suggests our disposition to dictatorship which is based on a thorough misconception and misunderstanding of the US system.

Another interesting point to note is the fact that the system we operate in Nigeria cannot be called the White House model because there are fundamental differences with the Nigerian system. This may indeed be the main reason why we have achieved very little success with the presidential system of Government. The Presidential system in the US works with a federal structure and besides, the political structures in the US are different and I have tried to show some of the differences in this discourse, although this is not an exhaustive discussion.

At the Federal level, the US Legislature is BI-cameral and the Nigerian National assembly is also BI-cameral. However, the US Senate does not have a Senate President and therefore no deputy Senate President. The US Vice -President acts as the Senate President and does not vote but acts as a tiebreaker. The US House of Representatives has a Speaker, but no Deputy Speaker. So the Nigerian set up has more positions which are unknown to the US system and which makes the Nigeria system expensive.

At the State level in the US, most of the states have BI--cameral legislatures while in Nigeria, the states have a Uni. -Cameral structure.

The US cabinet is much smaller than the Nigerian cabinet or executive. The size of the Nigeria cabinet is probably four times the size of the US cabinet and there is nothing to show in terms of efficiency in the Nigerian case. For example, the US does not have a Secretary to the Federal Government, but has a Secretary of State who also serves as Foreign Affairs (Minister).

In discussing the separation of powers under the US system, it is important to take a close look at the Executive.The Executive branch is meant to execute the laws. A component part of this organ of government therefore is the law enforcement function. The law enforcement function in the United States is shared between federal, state and local governments.At the Federal level, the United States Attorney-General is responsible for the Secret Service, The FBI, the Immigration and Naturalization Service as well as the Drug enforcement Administration.The Treasury Secretary is responsible for the Customs Department and so on. In Nigeria, the AGF has nothing to do with law enforcement as the Police are under the Minister of Police or at best under the President. So one can now begin to appreciate the problems encountered at all levels when there is a Federal Police refusing to obey court orders of even the lowest court in the land. Our set up in Nigeria does not encourage the rule of law and it lends support to the dictatorial tendencies of any unschooled incumbent President. At the State level in the United States, the Attorney General is responsible for the State Bureau of Investigations and other state agencies which infact are not involved in municipal policing. The municipal Police are under the local governments made up of the county and the city/town governments.

Furthermore, in the United States, although the President makes the appointment of the Attorney General, it is subject to Senate Confirmation. The senate screens the candidate for the position of Attorney General, whereas in our Nigerian case, the senate gets a list of candidates without portfolio. So the senate in Nigeria does not have any input as to who becomes the AGF.This distinction is very important although as usual our Governments try to pay lip service to very important matters. As the Chief Law Enforcement Officer, the Nigerian Senate ought to have an input for the success or failure of the Attorney General could affect Justice and the rule of law. That the Nigerian President has exclusive say as to who becomes Attorney General speaks volumes of our legal and Justice system.

While it is the prerogative of the President to pick his Attorney General, it is the duty of the Senate to ensure that the candidate meets the requirements for such a sensitive position. Under our present circumstance, can the AGF commence investigations or an inquiry to ascertain if a sitting President has broken the law? The answer most definitely is NO and this is one of the so many reasons why a sitting President might tend to be dictatorial.

Again, under the United States system, the Judiciary has a high degree of independence. A significant number of Judges are elected while others are appointed. In our Nigerian case, the system is such that the Judiciary is not totally independent. The district attorney at the county level is an elective positions that is our equivalent of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

The framers of the 1979 and 1999 constitution it appears, intended to make a dictator out of a President.This was most probably borne out of their disappointment with the so called Westminster model and a ceremonial President. All the necessary elements in the United States system that would prevent the abuse of executive powers were deliberately and carefully left out of the Nigerian system. Under President Shehu Shagari for example, the Federal Police was misused and abused and many state governors abused their executive powers. It was under Shehu Shagari that IGP Adewusi went out of control and since then, serious questions have been raised against the continued existence of a federal Police.

The recent impeachment threats have clearly shown inbuilt problems in our system. In the typical Nigerian manner, the misunderstanding between the President and the National Assembly has been swept under the carpet. The ethnic domains of both President Obasanjo and the Senate President Dr Chuba Okadigbo have risen to their defense and shielded them. What remains now is to blame the Presidential system or the American model as the reason for the seeming impasse between the national assembly and the Presidency.Perhaps, it is time to check out the German system, if it fails try the Japenese, the Swedish or even the French model which was once muted by President Babangida. Chief Enahoro recently suggested the return of the House of Chiefs and the parliamentary system and it is unfortunate that the merry go round train is now in full gear.

What is needed in Nigeria in my opinion, is a restructuring and constitutional review. Rather than have the regional and state structure as suggested by the Rotimi Williams led group called PATROITS, Nigeria should opt for the state and two tier local government structure. The six-geo political zones should replace the present state structure and the LG structure should be made up of the Province and city/town. Each of the six states should have BI-cameral legislatures and the hierarchy of courts in the states should include a state supreme court. The Nigerian Senate should be made up of not more than 60 senators, 10 for each of the six states. A Board of Commissioners or board of Administrators should run each Province while council should run the city/town with a mayor.

The problem with the suggestion made by the PATRIOTS on the regional Police is fraught with command and control problems and could lead to illegal regional armies. In its place, each level of government should have police departments with limited territorial jurisdiction and the whole public safety apparatus should be with federal government oversight.

The Presidential system is not expensive except that Nigeria chooses to make it so. President Obasanjo can never justify the large cabinet and Nigeria can never justify the large number of states and senate seats when compared to the United States. This present generation of leaders seem burnt out or have run out of gas. Truly patriotic Nigerians ought to begin deep thinking; we can never get salvation from this group.

Emmanuel Uzo Obi
Raleigh, NC, USA