A Nigerian lawyer, Dele Farotimi has revealed that he first heard Peter Obi discuss the one-term presidency concept during the 2023 election campaign but argues that voters should focus on substance rather than duration of service.
Speaking in an interview with Channels TV, Farotimi stated that Obi had been consistent about this plan. “I heard this one-term presidency thing from Peter Obi during the 2023 election cycle. That was the first time I heard him say this. So it’s not as if he was saying something I hadn’t heard before,” Farotimi said.
However, the lawyer expressed skepticism about campaign promises that lack detailed implementation plans. “But I think we need to be interrogating issues beyond declarations. A man says he’s going to spend one term. Okay. One term to do what? I think we should actually be asking that question,” he emphasized.
He distinguished between genuine vision and mere political ambition, arguing that transformative leadership requires long-term thinking. “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 take only one term and I’m leaving,’ I am more interested in asking the question: What are your plans? What would you do with the one term?” he questioned.
Drawing from his own perspective on governance efficiency, Farotimi suggested that meaningful change doesn’t necessarily require extended time in office. “If I ever run for the presidency of Nigeria, I don’t require more than two years to do everything that I need to do. And that’s the extent of my own belief in the fact that you don’t need a long time to achieve lasting change,” he declared.
The lawyer redirected attention from campaign rhetoric to practical governance plans. “But the question to be asked is: What does he intend to do with the one term? I think that’s the question that we should be asking. I’m not focused on whether the person is believable or not believable,” he stated.
He cited previous administrations to illustrate his point about effectiveness over longevity. “Jonathan had six years. What did he do with it? Buhari had eight years. What did he do with it? So it’s not really about how much time the person spends. It’s a function of what are they doing with the time that they have,” he said.
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