Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, says he is ready to serve only one term in office if elected president in 2027, in line with Nigeria’s power rotation principle.
Obi made the declaration on Sunday during a Twitter Space conversation hosted by Parallel Facts. He stated that any southern candidate who assumes office in 2027 must be willing to vacate the presidency by May 28, 2031, to uphold the unwritten power-sharing agreement between the North and South.
“If you take the arrangement, which is understandably what you can call an unwritten agreement — that power would go South and North — and if that arrangement is to be followed strictly, you would see that anybody, not just me, who happens to come from the South as president in 2027 must be ready to leave on the 28th of May (not 29th), 2031,” Obi said.
The former Anambra State governor emphasized his longstanding commitment to zoning, citing his tenure in the state as an example. “I campaigned for zoning. I championed zoning in Anambra State. That is one of the reasons today some people feel we must deal with this man. I insisted on it, I maintained it and I followed it to the last letter. And till today, I still follow it religiously,” he noted.
Obi, alongside other political heavyweights like former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, ex-transport minister Rotimi Amaechi, and former Kaduna governor Nasir el-Rufai, is reportedly working toward a possible coalition to challenge President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 general elections.
Reaffirming his stance on integrity over ambition, Obi said, “I am not desperate to be president of Nigeria. If I have the opportunity and if the opportunity is for two years, in two years, I would be able to bring competency, capacity and compassion into governance.”