Obi’s One-Term Promise A Political Strategy To Avoid Losing Votes In The North — Kenneth Okonkwo.
He said any party serious about defeating an incumbent must agree that its presidential candidate would serve for one term so that no side will feel cheated.
Okonkwo explained that Obi knew that if he did not make the promise, he would lose votes from the northern region of the country.
“So I brought the theory as a way for any opposition party to inspire Nigerians to know that each side will not lose when they make any choice, whether north or south.
“So, it was even Atiku Abubakar that first of all said he was going to do one term, then Peter Obi now keyed into it because he knows that if he, as a younger person, does not make that promise, he loses the entire North,” he said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Friday.
“So it’s purely a political strategy to say, ‘Look, I am not going to cut the eight years. I’m not going to shortchange you. So if I am elected, I will just do only four years to complete the eight years of the South.’ So that’s just the whole idea about it,” he added.
According to him, any party serious about defeating an incumbent must agree that its presidential candidate would serve for one term so that no side will feel cheated.
The lawyer stated, “I was the one who propounded it (one-term presidency) as a theory, saying that any party that is serious about fighting an incumbent must have to say that whoever is going to contest should have to do one term so that no side will feel cheated.
“So if you are a southerner, if you don’t agree to do one term, the northerners will say you want to do another eight years, which will offend the system. If you are a northerner, if you don’t agree to do one term, the southerners will say that means you want to cut us short early.”
Obi, Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, had said in a July 2025 interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics that he did not need more than four years to provide good governance for all Nigerians, insisting on his single-term proposal.
“I don’t need a day more than four years. I will show the direction of good governance. In two years, there has been maximum damage. Two years can change it in a good direction. People want to get up and see a president that cares, that shows compassion,” said the former governor.
In August, the 2023 presidential candidate advocated a single term of five years for the office of the President of Nigeria, as practised in South Korea, where the president cannot seek re-election after a single term of five years in office.
Obi said this would make the occupier know that they had a job to do within the limited time available.
“If I have the opportunity, we should stop having a second tenure for presidents. It should be five years. That is what is in South Korea, so people come in and know that they have a job to do,” Obi said when he paid a visit to the Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed.
anonimi: This casual argument is neither geographically or historically correct.
Lagos State is different from Lagos island that has the Iga Idugaran palace of the Oba of Lagos just as Ondo State is different from Ondo town.
There are indigenous peoples of the Western region LGA equivalent of divisions that were merged with Lagos island/ FCT to create Lagos State in 1967.
Not all the indigenous peoples are Yoruba, since we have Egun people of Badagry in the state who were part of the defunct Western region. The Oba of Lagos and many indigenous people of Lagos island have Bini ancestry.
In this regard, Yoruba states like Ondo, Ekiti, Oyo and Osun that are not contiguous with Lagos cannot have their sub-tribes as part of the indigenous peoples of Lagos State.
Ogu are settlers just like the Yewas, Saros, Egbas, Egbados e.t.c even though the Ogus are originally from Ife as claimed by the Akran of Badagry in a recent interview.
Their route was from ife to Ghana, then found their way back to Benin republic. The dahomean wars and aggression made them settle in Awori and Egbado lands in both in Lagos and Ogun state.
The first nations of present day Lagos are Aworis Yorubas and Ijebu Yorubas.
As per Oba of Lagos. Asipa, the father of Ado (first Oba of Lagos) is Awori while the mother is Benin. Erelu Kuti also married and Ijesha babalawo of her father. Therefore, their ancestry has since moved to Ijesha (Ilesha) as well.
casualobserver: Many of these expansionists hear Lagos and don’t realize colonial Lagos is different from Lagos state. Lagos state was created by annexing other parts of the yoruba western region. 92% of current land mass of Lagos state was never part of old Lagos but indigenous Yorubas from the western region and was never known as Lagos until 1967. These people who have roots from all over yorubaland suddenly became part of the new state called Lagos. That’s why someone from Osun can be a Governor in Lagos. If I recall correctly it was said Ambode had origins in Ondo or Ekiti but also Epe.
His mum is from Epe (Lagos) and his dad from Ondo.
Current deputy governor's late dad's mum was from Ewekoro in Ogun state. The dad even became an Oba there in Ewekoro via maternal line.
My part of Lagos, Ifako Ijaiye used to be part of western region and when states were created, some of my cousins were cut off into Ajuwon (Ogun state).
casualobserver: Keep out of things you do not undnerstand. You are not yoruba. You don’t understand the roots and relationships of the Yorubas.
Yayi has been a senator in Lagos and Ogun, he will be the next governor of Ogun.
Since “Lagos”. was expanded into a state it brought people from other parts of yoruba land into “Lagos state”. Ikorodu, Lekki, Epe etc are ijebus, Abule Egba are people from Abeokuta, Abule Ijesha are people from Ilesha. a man can have ancestral roots in Ogun state and be a Lagos indigene. similar relationships exists with people from Oyo, Osun etc. I have ancestral roots in 3 possibly 4 yoruba states. Every yoruba is from Ife. No Ibo is yoruba.
There are indigenous Lagosians who originate from the Nupe in Niger state as they shared a boundary with old Oyo empire. Such relationships and does not exist and can never apply to an Ibo because no Ibo is ever a yoruba. We have never shared a boundary with you. We did not know of your existence or interact with you until recently. There are some people of the SS that can trace their ancestry or families to Lagos or other yoruba states, similarly like I said some Nupe people. Such does not and can never apply to an Ibo. Our history never intertwined, our cultures and values are total opposite. We have nothing in common except Nigeria.
An Ibo can never be an indigene of Lagos or yorubaland. You can only ever be an Ibo residing in the SW.
I. Suggest you mind your business.
You are correct. Iju Ishaga from Ishaga Orile in Ogun state. Ikoyi from Ikoyi in Oyo state and so on.
Even the Saros and Agudas are from various parts of Yorubaland. Like the crowther originally from Oyo. The Doherty originally from Ilaro. The Cokers from Abeokuta e.t.c
“The economy has stabilised, nobody is trading a piece of paper for an exchange rate anymore. When I took over, it was ₦1,900 to a dollar. It’s ₦1,450 now. It’s been stabilising there. You don’t have to know Cardoso before you get your foreign exchange,” Tinubu said.
Reacting in a post on his verified X handle, Omokri cautioned a user identified as “Emir” against hastily branding the President a “liar,” arguing that Tinubu’s remark was rooted in facts.
He explained that before Tinubu’s inauguration on May 29, 2023, Nigeria was spending about $1.5 billion monthly to subsidise the Naira even more than the petrol subsidy at the time.
Omokri noted that while the official exchange rate under ex-President Muhammadu Buhari stood at about ₦400/$, the “real unsubsidised value” of the currency was closer to ₦2,000/$.
He wrote: “Please fact-check me: Before President Tinubu was sworn in on May 29, 2023, Nigeria spent $1.5 billion monthly to subsidise the Naira. The naira subsidy was actually higher than the subsidy on petrol.
“Whereas under General Buhari, you were buying the Dollar at the rate of about ₦400 to $1, the real exchange rate without the subsidy was about ₦2000 to $1.
“You may recall that when President Tinubu first floated the Naira, it suddenly fell to ₦1900 to $1.
“The reason it fell to that price was because that was the actual value of our currency.
“President Bola Tinubu was referring to that unsubsidised amount, which was the real value of the Naira.
The former presidential aide added that critics should verify facts before accusing Tinubu of dishonesty, suggesting that tools such as artificial intelligence could confirm the accuracy of the President’s claim.
Omokri also stressed that while political differences may exist, it was unfair to label the President a liar without proper fact-checking.
“He was not lying, and you can verify this with an AI like Grok.
“I understand that some of us may have political disagreements with the President, but perhaps you and I can conduct cursory research before labelling him a ‘congenital liar’”, he concluded.
Gustavowhite: Just that I can’t post videos here,he said he isn’t yoruba,that he can’t call himself fully yoruba that every Kwarans is mixed What am i misinterpreting?
mrvitalis: Ebonyi man is governor of Enugu today.. So?
His great great great grand dad is from Ebonyi. He is from Enugu. The LP politician that massively trended in video on X vigorously campaigned against him for that reason.
Politics › Re: Simon Ekpa: Ebonyi Man Is Always The Scapegoat. by Slytiger: 8:08pm On Sep 05, 2025
