Amid His One-term Controversy, Peter Obi Advocates Five-year Single Tenure for President

As controversy over the pledge by the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Mr. Peter Obi, to do only one term of four years if elected president in 2027 rages, the former Anambra State governor has advocated for a five-year single term for the president in Nigeria.

Obi recommended the single five-year tenure for president in Bauchi at the weekend when he paid a courtesy visit to Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State.
According to him, there shouldn’t be any second tenure for the president, adding that instead of the four-year tenure, it should be five years as practised in South Korea.
“I’ve said it and I want to say it again in this government house that if I have the opportunity, we should stop having a second tenure for president.

“It should be five years straight, so that people can come in knowing they have a job to do.
“What people do now is to be president for one year and use the rest of the years thinking about their next tenure. We must stop it; let’s face the real job; do your own and go,” he suggested.

The 2027 presidential hopeful insisted that if elected as Nigerian president in 2027, he would only serve for one term, promising that he wouldn’t spend a day longer than four years in office.
He added that if allowed to serve Nigeria, he would ensure that every political party functions properly.
Obi said he would ensure that political parties were bigger than the elected functionaries.
“I want the party to be bigger than the president and the governors so that we can have orderliness,” he said.

Responding, the Bauchi State governor called on Obi to return to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying that’s where he belongs.

“We want you to come back to PDP. Please come back because that is where you belong.

“We want you to be in PDP; there are plans, desires, and strategies,” he said.

Mohammed further said that politics in Nigeria could not be done with ego, differences, and personal interest, while calling on all oppositions to harmonise their interests in the interest of Nigerians.