Pat Utomi backs Peter Obi’s one-term presidency proposal, says two terms wasteful

• Utomi recalled that Obi had long championed a one five-year term, rotating among Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.
• He insisted critics doubting Obi’s sincerity were only being mischievous, stressing the position was consistent for over two decades.

A political economist, Pat Utomi, has urged Nigeria to adopt a one-term presidency to stop leaders from wasting eight years in office.

Utomi made this known in an interview with BusinessDay Television while reacting to Peter Obi’s pledge to spend only one term if elected president in 2027.

He said Obi’s position did not surprise him, noting that the former Anambra governor had consistently pushed for a single-term rotational presidency.

“It shows how little attention people pay to details of matters,” Utomi said.

“I was not surprised at all to hear Peter Obi say that, because for years before the last election, Obi’s mantra was that one of the first things he would do if elected in 2023 was to ensure a one-term rotational presidency,” he added.

He recalled that Obi had long advocated for a single five-year term, rotating among Nigeria’s geopolitical zones.

According to him, doubts about Obi’s consistency on the matter are misplaced.

“That was his mantra in 2002 and 2001. He talked about this. That if he was elected, he would move quickly to one five-year term rotating across geopolitical zones,” he said.

“So why would anybody now begin to say they doubt it? He said it long before this scenario of now came up. People are just mischief makers.”

Utomi argued that two presidential terms encourage waste and slow progress.

“By the way, I don’t know why this obsession with two terms. ICAN has a one-term system, it rotates, and everybody seems to be happy,” he said.

“Why is there this obsession with spending eight years doing nothing? Most of them do nothing — just destroy a country in eight years,” he added.

He said a one-term system would be better for national development.

“I personally would actually vote for a mandatory one-term. It’s not my idea, it’s Peter’s idea, and I would support it. Not because it’s his idea, but because it makes sense given this obsession with two terms,” Utomi declared.

“Non-performing people waste the lives of others for eight years. I think after four or five years, you should move on and let new thinking try their bit,” he said.