Human rights activist and lawyer Dele Farotimi has endorsed presidential hopeful Peter Obi’s proposal for a single-term presidency, arguing that Nigeria’s previous leaders wasted extended periods in office without delivering meaningful progress.
“Olusegun Obasanjo had eight years; what did he achieve? Muhammadu Buhari had eight years; he ruined Nigeria. Bola Tinubu has had two years, and he is taking us back half a century,” Farotimi said on Monday’s edition of Sunrise Daily on Channels Television.
He stressed that the duration of a presidency matters less than how effectively the time is used. “I first heard the one-term presidency idea from Peter Obi during the election cycle. I am more interested in what he intends to do with that time. If I ever ran for president, I would not need more than two years to accomplish my goals. Lasting change does not require a long term in office; the key question is: what will he do with one term?”
Obasanjo served as Nigeria’s president from May 1999 to May 2007, while Buhari governed from May 2015 until May 2023, when he handed over to former Lagos governor Tinubu.
Obi has repeatedly pledged to serve only a single four-year term if elected, first making the promise in June during a widely attended X Space session. He has since proposed adopting a single five-year term, similar to South Korea’s model, which prohibits re-election.
“If I have the opportunity, we should abolish the second tenure for presidents. It should be five years, as in South Korea, so leaders come in knowing they have a specific job to do,” Obi said.