From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The House of Representatives has introduced a bill seeking to return the country to parliamentary system of government at the federal, state and local government levels effective from 2031.
The bill, which is seeking to alter relevant sections of the 1999 Constitution ( as amended) is sponsored by the minority leader, Kingsley Chinda and 59 others, was read for the first time at Wednesday’s  plenary.
The country, operated a parliamentary system of government from independence in 1960 until the first military coup in 1966. However, when democratic rule was restored in 1979, the country changed to a presidential system of government.
The sponsors of the bill, under the aegis of Parliamentary Bill Sponsors, at a press briefing, on Wednesday, said the bill if passed into law, would reduce the cost of governance in the country, as well as make the government more accountable and responsive.
The spokesman of the Parliamentary Bill Sponsors, Abdussamad Dasuki, who spoke on behalf of the group at the press conference, said the presidential system, which the group has been operating since 1979 is bedeviled with several challenges.
This, according to him, include high cost of governance, which leaves less resources for infrastructure, education, healthcare amongst other developmental projects.
Dasuki explained that the founding fathers of the country , in their wisdom, at independence, adopted the parliamentary system of government where legislative and executive powers were exercised by lawmakers, with its many benefits.
According to him, “the collapse of the First Republic and the long stretch of military rule culminated in the adoption of a new system of government, theoretically fashioned after the Presidential System of the United States but in practice imbibed the uttermost attributes of military rule. “