Obi’s one-term presidency not sellable in North – IPAC Chair

The Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Yabagi Sani, has said Peter Obi’s proposal to serve only one term if elected president in 2027 is unlikely to gain traction in northern Nigeria.

Speaking during a Channels TV interview on Monday, Sani said the North views power rotation as a matter of balance, not sentiment, and would question why power should remain in the South after President Bola Tinubu.

“Obi can say he’ll do one term, but northerners will ask: after Tinubu, why should power stay in the South?” he said.

Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, had said during an X Space conversation on Sunday that he was open to a single-term presidency if that aligns with his coalition’s zoning arrangement.

But Sani dismissed the idea as unconvincing to northern stakeholders, who still place value on the informal North-South power rotation agreement.

“The principle of eight years North and eight years South still holds. With Tinubu likely seeking re-election, Obi’s offer appears to be a shortcut that won’t sit well in the North,” he said.

He also questioned Obi’s ability to keep such a promise, citing past leaders who reneged on reformist pledges once in power.

“We’ve seen it before. People come in shouting reform and later try to alter the constitution to extend their stay. Peter Obi is no saint; he’s not from another planet,” Sani said.

He argued that the realities of incumbency, state capture, and political pressure make it easy to abandon promises.

“So many people won’t take Obi’s one-term talk seriously,” he added.