The 2023 All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Rivers State, Tonye Cole, has said Nigeria must abandon its current presidential system of government, describing it as unsuitable and inconsistent with the country’s identity and needs.
Speaking on Politics Today on Channels Television on Friday, Cole argued that the American-style presidential model currently in use in Nigeria has failed to build institutions capable of holding leaders accountable, and can easily be exploited by a select few.
He called for a radical rethink of the country’s political structure, stating that Nigeria needs to adopt a governance model that is grounded in its indigenous values and historical context.
“This American system that we call the Presidential system in Nigeria, we need to go and readdress it,” Cole said. “We cannot import the parliamentary system of the UK, and it will not work here; we cannot import a presidential system, and it will not work here.”
Cole pointed to countries such as China and several Arab nations, which he said had successfully developed governance systems tailored to their cultural and political realities rather than adopting Western models wholesale.
He added that the current political system has not fostered accountability or strong institutions, warning that “every African in their country is dissatisfied with the democracy they have” because it is not aligned with their identity.
The APC chieftain stressed that Nigeria must return to its roots by developing a uniquely African, Nigerian-focused political system.
“Let us build an African, Nigerian-focused political system, and we will have it. We had a political system before the Europeans came, and we had a political system even when the slave trade was going on. So, what are we running away from? We know what to do,” he said.
Cole also criticised the continued imitation of British institutional frameworks, asserting that the British model is not compatible with Nigerian cultural realities.
His comments come amid renewed public discourse around constitutional reform and calls for a governance system that better reflects Nigeria’s diverse population and complex socio-political landscape.
