Kenneth Okonkwo, a lawyer and former spokesperson for the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council, has said that Peter Obi’s commitment to a one-term presidency in 2027 is a strategic promise tailored to win northern acceptance.
In an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, Okonkwo explained that Obi’s declaration is not accidental but a deliberate attempt to balance Nigeria’s fragile power-sharing structure.
According to him, “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.”
The former All Progressives Congress (APC) member explained that the single-term strategy aims to prevent suspicions between the North and South, assuring both regions that neither side would be politically shortchanged.
“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,’” he added.
Obi, who ran under the Labour Party in 2023, has confirmed he will contest in 2027. During a live session on X Spaces, the former Anambra governor pledged to stabilize the country within his first two years in office.
He clarified that although he was open to coalition talks with other leaders, including Atiku, his priority remained tackling insecurity, reviving the economy, and reducing poverty.
Okonkwo, however, has parted ways with the Labour Party, citing internal disputes and accusing Obi of poor leadership in managing conflicts within the party.