Opadokun, Secretary-General of National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), made the call in an interview with Newsmen in Lagos on Sunday.
Nigeria operated the parliamentary system of government from 1960 to 1966.
Opadokun said re-adopting the parliamentary system of government would address governance and development challenges confronting the country.
He said during the First Republic when the parliamentary system of government was in operation , Nigeria fared well in all the indices of good governance and development.
Opadokun said the present presidential system was imposed on the country by the military and had been a stumbling block to the realisation of the nation’s aspirations.
“It is important to note that NADECO has been advocating the country’s return to the parliamentary form of government even before Tinubu became the president.
“It was the military that abrogated the federal constitution when they captured Nigeria in 1966.
“They later foisted upon us an executive presidential system that is only practised in the U.S. They didn’t give enough thought to what they did.
“One of the important things that should be done by the present administration is to return Nigeria to the constitutional governance upon which we secured our independence”,he said.
Opadokun said the parliamentary system of government guaranteed the efficient use of resources of the different regions of the country when it was practised.
“Also, the parliamentary system is cost- effective and it makes leadership responsible to the citizens” he added.
Opadokun said he had no quarrel with the concept of restructuring, noting that some of the problems restructuring seeks to address would be taken care of with the return of the parliamentary system of government.
The Afenifere chieftain said he believed Tinubu had everything required to deliver good governance in the country.
He said the president had great economic expertise and urged him to deploy it quickly to lift the country out of the present economic doldrums.
Opadokun said returning the country to parliamentary system could be done by the president,given his political experience and his electoral promise that he would do his best for the country.
“He knows what we fought for,but he should not leave the constitutional issue till he has accomplished his economic turnaround, which is a bread-and-butter matter.
“It also necessary and important,but the much more fundamental matter is a return to the federal constitutional arrangement upon which we secured our independence.
“That is the only thing that will put his name in gold because Nigerians did not request a centralised form of governance”,he said.
