Peter Obi’s one-term pledge is empty rhetoric — Farouq Aliyu

Former Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Farouq Aliyu, has dismissed Peter Obi’s promise to serve only one term if elected president in 2027, describing it as “mere rhetoric” and evidence of a lack of understanding of Nigeria’s governance complexities.

Aliyu made the remarks on Wednesday during an interview on Prime Time, a current affairs programme on Arise Television. He argued that Obi, a former governor of Anambra State and the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, lacks the national-level experience required to make such sweeping commitments.

“Sometimes when you’re out of office or when you’re not in the place, you’d not know. To me, it’s just rhetoric, and he’s also trying to convince people,” Aliyu said.

He went further to assert that Obi’s position stems from a limited perspective shaped by state-level governance.

“Obi is talking out of ignorance. He doesn’t know. States are different from Nigeria. When you govern a small state, the horizon of a state governor is not as wide as the horizon of a president,” Aliyu stated.

Obi had recently reiterated his readiness to serve a single term if elected in 2027, pledging to use the opportunity to lay the groundwork for a “new Nigeria.”

Responding to questions on the emerging opposition coalition led by the Labour Party and the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Aliyu said the movement lacks the unity and structure needed to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

“We respect them; we admire them as Nigerian leaders, but honestly, they don’t threaten us. All of them are after us. So, we need to spread our tentacles to make sure we pour sand inside their gàárì,” he added.

He also cast doubt on the coalition’s effectiveness, describing it as a gathering of individuals with conflicting presidential ambitions.

“Virtually all leaders of that group want to be president; unfortunately for them, only one person can be president,” Aliyu noted.

While he acknowledged that some members of the opposition offer valid criticism, he maintained that their fractured approach makes them ill-equipped to unseat the APC in the 2027 general elections.