Obi Proposes 5-Year Presidential Term

Peter Obi, the flagbearer of the Labour Party (LP) in the February 2023 elections, has proposed a five-year single presidential tenure for each of Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.

During a press conference in Abuja, the nation’s capital held two weeks after the Supreme Court confirmed President Bola Tinubu’s electoral victory on February 25, 2023, under the All Progressives Congress (APC), Obi presented this recommendation.

This proposal is in response to Atiku, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the same election, who suggested a constitutional amendment for a six-year single term for the President.

But, Obi favours a five-year term with a 30-year rotation system, believing it would establish a more functional and productive framework for Nigeria, including the introduction of a single tenure system.

“I thank (former) Vice President Atiku Abubakar for his position and his commitment to ensuring that things work better going forward in Nigeria, but I disagree slightly,” Obi stated. “I will go for a five-year tenure, which will go for 30 years rotational — for a five-year tenure.”

Also, Obi proposed a quasi-system that would allow leaders in office to simultaneously participate in the legislature. He advocated for a mechanism enabling leaders to be answerable to the public through regular question-and-answer sessions, emphasising the need for elected leaders to be more directly involved in addressing important questions.

“Maybe a presidential question or prime minister question, instead of hiring surrogates. We want to hear from the people we elected now, and that is critical. We cannot continue with this way where we are now, where people have outsourced leadership.”