Peter Obi advocates single term presidency of five years like South Korea’s

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has advocated a single term of five years for the office of the President of Nigeria.

Obi said this would make the occupier know that they have a job to do within the limited time available.

He said this was the practice in South Korea, where the president cannot seek re-election after a single term of five years in office.

‘If I have the opportunity, we should stop having a second tenure for presidents. It should be five years,” Obi said when he paid a visit to the Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, at the government house, Bauchi, on Friday.

“That is what is in South Korea, so people come in and know that they have a job to do,” he added.

The former Anambra State governor said the practice of governing for one year and using the remaining years in office to plan for re-election should stop.

“What people do now is to be president for one year and use the rest of the year thinking about the next tenure. Let’s stop it, let’s face the real job,” he said.

The former presidential candidate had on August 3 reiterated his vow to serve only a single four-year term if elected the President of Nigeria.

Obi first made the pledge during a well-attended X Space session tagged #PeterObiOnParallelFacts, which drew thousands of live listeners in June.

However, the one-term promise sparked mixed reactions, with many questioning his sincerity.

However, in a post on his X handle, the former Anambra State governor reaffirmed that his commitment to serving only one term remains sacrosanct.

“In my political life, my word is my bond…My vow to serve only one term of four years is a solemn commitment, rooted in my conviction that purposeful, transparent leadership does not require an eternity,” he said.

According to him, history has shown that the longer many African leaders remain in power, the more likely they are to be corrupted by it.

To support his position, Obi cited Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and Nelson Mandela as examples of leaders who left enduring legacies without serving two terms.