‘Obasanjo, Buhari wasted eight years’ – Farotimi backs Obi’s one-term presidency plan

By Ayobami Okerinde

Human rights activist and lawyer, Dele Farotimi, has backed former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi’s call for a single-term presidency, noting that past Nigerian leaders have squandered longer tenures without delivering meaningful progress.

Speaking during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday, Farotimi said,”Obasanjo had eight years; what did he do with it? (Muhammadu) Buhari had eight years; what did he do with it? He ruined Nigeria. (President Bola) Tinubu has had two years, and he is taking us back 50 years.

“So it’s not really about how much time the person spends; it’s a function of what they do with the time that they have.”

Farotimi also emphasised that achieving lasting impact does not depend on a prolonged stay in office.

Farotimi, known for his outspoken advocacy for justice and systemic reforms, stressed that long-term impact does not require a long stay in office.

“I first heard this one-term presidency idea from Peter Obi during the 2023 election cycle. We need to be interrogating issues beyond interrogating beyond declaration. A man says he’s going to spend one term. One term to do what? If I have a vision that can be contained within my lifetime, then it’s not a vision but an ambition. If it’s a vision, I will need my children’s children to complete the task.

“So, if a man says, ‘I’m going to take one term, and I’m leaving,’ I am more interested in asking the question, ‘What are your plans? What will you do with the one term?

“If I ever run for the presidency of Nigeria, I wouldn’t require more than two years to do everything I need to do. You don’t need a long term to achieve lasting change, but the question should be: what does he intend to do with the one term?” the lawyer said.

Recall that Obi had, over time, reiterated his vow to serve only a single four-year term if elected president in 2027, a declaration that has sparked mixed reactions, with some questioning his sincerity.

More recently, the former Anambra governor suggested that Nigeria adopt a single five-year presidential term, similar to the model in South Korea, where re-election is not permitted.

A thousand Jonathans can’t fix Nigeria without systemic change

Reacting to reports of Jonathan’s possible return to the political scene, Farotimi argued that without addressing the nation’s structural defects, no leader, regardless of competence or intellect, can fix the country.

He said, “A thousand Goodluck Ebele Jonathans cannot solve the problems of Nigeria. They might as well go ahead to increase his brain powers by factors of a thousand for good measure. If we do not address our structural problems, and if we are incapable of telling ourselves the basic truth that we owe to ourselves, nothing is going to change.

“They can recycle all these people as many times as they care. This was the same Jonathan that was horribly vilified and labelled. The press went into overdrive in this country, the pulpit and the mosque everywhere: ‘Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s removal will solve the problems of Nigeria,’ and here we are.

“I don’t believe our problems are going to be resolved because we change personnel; the problems we have in Nigeria go beyond persons. If you removed Bola Ahmed Tinubu from office today, if you do not touch that evil system that has produced the kind of people who have ruined the country, all this talk about Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is just more distraction from the political ‘ruinning’ class.”

The activist stressed that building “enduring systems” should be Nigeria’s priority, not searching for a single political messiah.

“It’s about building enduring systems, a country. How do you rebrand a failure of 2015 into a saint and a saviour in 2025? How? 10 years have gone full cycle, and we’re back at a situation where we are saying that we were better off where we were,” he added.

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