The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has rejected claims that Peter Obi’s promise to serve only one term as president amounts to political gambling, insisting that the commitment is a constitutional choice aimed at making leadership accountable to performance.
The party said Obi, its presidential candidate, had voluntarily committed to a single four-year tenure, promising to be judged by his achievements rather than the length of time he spends in office.
The NDC was reacting to comments by former Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, who questioned the viability of the proposal, describing it as “a four-year gambling” during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
In a statement issued on Friday, the Director-General of the NDC National Presidential Campaign Council, Ibrahim Hussain Abdulkarim, argued that the 1999 Constitution does not make a second presidential term compulsory.
He cited Section 135(2) of the Constitution, which provides for a four-year presidential tenure and allows an incumbent to seek another term.
According to him, the provision gives a president the option of seeking re-election but does not compel anyone to remain in office beyond one term.
“Section 135(2) of the 1999 Constitution provides that a President shall leave office after four years and may seek a further four years. In law, ‘may’ is permissive, not mandatory. A single term is therefore constitutional. It is not a gamble,” Abdulkarim said.
The party argued that Nigeria’s experience under an eight-year presidential administration between 2015 and 2023 showed that a longer stay in office did not automatically guarantee better governance.
It listed rising inflation, the depreciation of the naira, increasing public debt, widespread poverty and insecurity among the challenges it said characterised the period.
“Nigeria already tested an eight-year tenure between 2015 and 2023. The result was rising inflation, a weakened naira, soaring public debt, widespread poverty, and insecurity across the country. That is the real balance sheet of prolonged tenure without performance,” he said.
The NDC maintained that Obi’s proposal was intended to change the emphasis in presidential leadership from political calculations about re-election to delivering measurable results within four years.
Describing the pledge as a performance commitment, Abdulkarim said Obi had also promised to leave office in 2031, in recognition of what the party described as the North’s turn to produce the next president.
“Peter Obi’s offer is a performance bond, not a gamble. He has pledged to serve one term, to be judged strictly by results, and to hand over power in 2031 in recognition that it is the turn of the North. This is sacrifice for national stability,” he said.
Okorocha had acknowledged Obi’s personal qualities, describing him as a “fantastic gentleman” who was clear-headed, but questioned whether a single-term presidency was a workable political arrangement.
