Nigeria’s presidency has criticised former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi over his renewed pledge to serve only one term if elected president, saying his political history makes the promise difficult to trust.
Special Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, made the remarks on X in response to Obi’s interview on News Central Television.
During the interview, Obi said he would commit to a single four-year term if elected president, arguing that Nigeria’s economic and governance challenges required urgent and focused leadership rather than prolonged political ambition.
“I want to be a one-term president because of stability. I would not stay a day longer than four years,” Obi said.
The former Anambra State governor also criticised Tinubu’s handling of the economy and security, citing rising debt levels, worsening insecurity and increasing hardship across the country.
Obi said Nigeria had become poorer and more insecure less than two years into the current administration.“It’s only two years that someone used to borrow more than all the previous governments put together,” Obi said.
The 2023 LP presidential candidate added that food import policies had harmed local farmers.
Reacting to the comments, Onanuga questioned Obi’s credibility, alleging that the former governor had a history of abandoning political commitments and changing party affiliations.
“If you believe Peter Obi’s promise to serve only one term as president, you’ll believe anything,” Onanuga wrote on X.
He alleged that Obi had once pledged loyalty to the All Progressives Grand Alliance while serving as governor of Anambra State before later defecting to the Peoples Democratic Party.
Onanuga said Obi’s political promises had often proved short-lived and described him as “a political rolling stone.”