Tonye Cole: Why Nigeria’s Presidential System Is A Road To Nowhere

Tonye Cole, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate for Rivers State in the 2023 elections, has asserted that Nigeria’s presidential system of government is unsuitable for the country.

He emphasized the need for a governance model that reflects Nigeria’s native political heritage rather than imported structures.

During an interview on Channels Television, Cole remarked that many Africans are dissatisfied with the political systems imposed on their countries, which often do not align with their cultural and societal realities.

“This American-style presidential system that we’ve adopted in Nigeria needs to be re-evaluated,” he said. “The UK’s parliamentary system doesn’t fit here either. These systems are not compatible with who we are as Africans—they’re fundamentally foreign to us.”

Cole stressed that nations that have thrived politically developed systems rooted in their own historical and cultural contexts. He cited the Arab world and China as examples of countries that rejected Western political models in favor of frameworks more attuned to their identity.

“We need to create a political system that is uniquely African and Nigerian. We’ve had indigenous systems in place before colonialism and even during the era of the slave trade. So why are we abandoning what worked for us?”

He further explained that Nigeria’s current presidential system is flawed because it can be easily manipulated by a select few and lacks strong institutions capable of holding leaders accountable.

According to Cole, Nigeria’s attempt to build institutions modeled after the British system is ineffective, as it clashes with the country’s cultural fabric.