By Elisha
Human rights lawyer and activist, Dele Farotimi, has thrown his weight behind former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi’s advocacy for a single-term presidency in Nigeria, insisting that long tenures have failed to bring meaningful change.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday, Farotimi criticised past Nigerian leaders, arguing that former President Olusegun Obasanjo and ex-President Muhammadu Buhari wasted their respective eight-year administrations.
“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,” Farotimi said.
“It’s not about the length of time in office but what is achieved during that period.”
Farotimi revealed that he first heard the idea of a single-term presidency from Peter Obi during the 2023 election campaign. According to him, the focus should be on clear plans and deliverables rather than tenure length.
“If I were to run for president, I wouldn’t need more than two years to do what is necessary. The key question is — what will be achieved within that single term?” he stated.
Obi has repeatedly pledged to serve only one four-year term if elected in 2027, recently proposing a five-year single presidential term similar to the South Korean model where re-election is not allowed.
Farotimi dismissed the idea that simply changing leaders would fix Nigeria’s problems. He emphasised the need for structural and systemic reforms.
“A thousand Goodluck Jonathans cannot solve Nigeria’s problems if we don’t address structural issues. Recycling politicians without fixing the system is a distraction,” he said.
The activist stressed that building enduring systems should take priority over the search for a “political messiah
