By Our Reporter
Human rights lawyer and activist, Dele Farotimi, has weighed in on Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi’s recent declaration that he would serve only a single term if elected president in 2027.
Speaking in an interview with Channels Television on Sunday night, Farotimi said it was not the first time Obi was making such a commitment, recalling that the former Anambra State governor had similarly raised the idea during the 2023 campaign season.
While stressing that he does not doubt Obi’s sincerity, Farotimi maintained that the proposal should be properly interrogated to ascertain its substance and the concrete plans behind it.
“A man says he’s going to spend one term. One term to do what? I think we should ask that question,” he said.
Farotimi argued that vision goes beyond personal ambition, insisting that Nigerians should press Obi for clarity on what exactly he intends to achieve within four years if elected. “If I have a vision that can be contained within my lifetime, then it’s not a vision, it’s just an ambition. If it’s a vision, I will need my children’s children to complete that task.
“So, if a man says, ‘I’m going to run for one term.’ I am more interested in asking questions about his plans. What would you do with the one term?” he queried.
The activist, however, conceded that a leader with well-defined plans could still deliver significant results within a short timeframe. Drawing comparisons, he noted that despite serving two terms, former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari “achieved nothing,” while the current administration under President Bola Tinubu had “spent two years taking the country backwards.”
“Obasanjo had eight years; what did he do with them? Buhari had eight years; what did he do with it? He ruined Nigeria. Tinubu has had two years, he’s taking us back like 50 years. So, it’s not really about how much time the person spends; it’s a function of what they are doing with the time that they have,” he stressed.
Obi, who recently reaffirmed his one-term proposal, has explained that his decision is tied to Nigeria’s unwritten north-south power rotation, noting that with a southern president already in office, his administration would return power to the north after four years.
His stance has continued to spark mixed reactions, with some supporters welcoming it as a bold move to stabilise the polity, while critics accuse him of being overly ambitious.
