Human rights lawyer and activist, Dele Farotimi, has expressed strong support for presidential hopeful Peter Obi’s proposal for a single-term presidency, insisting that Nigeria’s past leaders have squandered longer tenures without delivering meaningful progress.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday, Farotimi took a swipe at former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari, as well as President Bola Tinubu.
He said, “Obasanjo had eight years; what did he do with it? Buhari had eight years; what did he do with it? He ruined Nigeria. Tinubu has had two years, and he is taking us back 50 years.”
Naija News reports that Farotimi maintained that the real issue was not the length of time in office but what a leader accomplishes within that period.
The lawyer, known for his outspoken calls for justice and systemic reforms, recalled first hearing about the single-term presidency idea from Obi during the last election cycle.
“It’s not about how long he says he wishes to serve; I’m more interested in what he intends to do with that time. If I ever run for the presidency of Nigeria, I wouldn’t require more than two years to do everything I need to do. You don’t need a long term to achieve lasting change,” he said.
It is understood that Obi has repeatedly vowed to serve only a single four-year term if elected president, a pledge he first made during a widely attended 𝕏 Space session in June.
More recently, he proposed adopting a single five-year presidential term similar to South Korea’s system, where re-election is prohibited.
“If I have the opportunity, we should stop having a second tenure for presidents. It should be five years. That is what is in South Korea, so people come in and know that they have a job to do,” Obi said.
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