When Nigeria's military rulers gathered in the mid 1970s to design a new governance structure, they articulated compelling reasons for abandoning the Westminster parliamentary system. General Murtala Mohammed's administration argued that the conflict between ceremonial and executive authority could trigger ethnic strife, pointing to the constitutional crisis of 1964-1965 that had paralysed the First Republic, planting seeds that eventually led to the civil war.
They envisioned a presidential system that would eliminate "ruthless political competition," discourage institutionalised opposition, and prevent power concentration in few hands.