The Presidency has fired back at former President Olusegun Obasanjo, claiming he is responsible for the challenges in Nigeria’s democracy. This follows Obasanjo’s recent critique of Western democracy at a consultation event in Abeokuta.
During an interview with The Punch, monitored by Quest Times, Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, argued that the current democratic model traces its roots back to Obasanjo’s influence during his tenure as military Head of State and civilian President.
He also accused Obasanjo of poorly implementing the presidential system, emphasizing that he didn’t capture its essence during his leadership. Onanuga highlighted the former president’s attempt to modify the constitution during his time in office.
Onanuga said, “Obasanjo ought to know that he brought this thing into Nigeria. He was the one who made us adopt it in 1979. He must have seen it as expensive and unsuitable when he governed us for eight years and even wanted an extension for another four years.
“So, the way he is sounding, it is like the man is getting wiser after leaving office.
“If he believes in what he is saying now, he ought to be an advocate of the need to go back to the parliamentary system.
“We were practicing the parliamentary democracy the British left for us. Then, the military struck in 1966. And when we were going to return to democracy, instead of going back to what we were practicing before, parliamentary democracy, which was not expensive, it was this same Obasanjo who accepted the recommendation of the constitutional assembly at that time that recommended this American-style democracy.”
“Obasanjo also knew that he copied this presidential system very wrongly. He copied the form and structure. But he didn’t copy the spirit of it.
“Something that should have been under him in 1999 to 2007, he even made attempts to modify the constitution.”
