Yabagi Sani, a former Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC), has expressed skepticism that northerners would believe ex-Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate Peter Obi’s proposal to run for president in 2027 and serve only a single four-year term.
Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief programme on Tuesday, Sani stated that no politician eyeing the 2027 presidency, including Obi, is a “saint.”
His comments came in response to Obi’s reported statement during an X Space session on Sunday, where the former Anambra State governor indicated he would adhere to a four-year term limit if he wins the 2027 presidential election.
However, the former IPAC chair argued that the dynamics of power change significantly once politicians assume office.
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Sani also emphasized that, based on the principle of power rotation, Nigeria’s northern region should produce the country’s president after the South’s eight-year tenure.
President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), from the South-West, will complete his first four-year term by May 2027 and is seeking re-election.
Sani said, “Yes, Mr Peter Obi can agree to say: ‘I am going to do one term’ but the northerners will tell you that after Bola Tinubu’s term, if he gets the (second) election, it should come to the north.
“But we are human beings. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Peter Obi is not a saint; he is not somebody who is from another planet. We have seen successive governments trying to see how they can turn the constitution around and give themselves a third term and things like that.
“This is why it would be difficult for a lot of people to believe Mr Peter Obi that after one term, he would leave. And then how would he even succeed if you look at the sentimental aspect of it, the state capture, and power of incumbency.”
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