BY AHMED AKANBI
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and South East Leader of the Tinubu Support Organisation, Dr George Agbakahi, has faulted reports of an alleged agreement committing Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, to serve only one term if elected in 2027.
Agbakahi described the reported arrangement as a “half-measure” that would further diminish the South East’s quest for equitable representation at the nation’s highest political office.
Speaking through a statement issued in Owerri, the APC stalwart argued that the Igbo nation deserves a full presidential tenure rather than what he called “a symbolic and abbreviated stint.”
”After decades of waiting, the Igbo people merit more than a symbolic interlude. They deserve the opportunity for a complete and consequential tenure that can address historic grievances and contribute meaningfully to national development,” he said.
Agbakahi anchored his argument on the region’s limited presence in Nigeria’s highest office since independence.
He noted that the late Major General Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi remains the only Igbo leader to have headed the country, albeit for about six months before his assassination during the 1966 counter-coup.
He maintained that rotational leadership and zoning, though not constitutionally entrenched, were introduced to address historical imbalances among the country’s geopolitical zones.
According to him, limiting a South East presidency to one term would undermine the very objective of power rotation.
The APC chieftain also referenced a recent television interview in which Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso was reported to have disclosed that he and Obi signed a document committing to hand over power to the North in 2031.
Describing the alleged agreement as a documented political pact, Agbakahi argued that voluntarily limiting a presidential tenure before assuming office amounts to conceding the advantages of incumbency.
”In a political system where incumbency offers enormous advantages through control of federal resources, security agencies and appointments, voluntarily shortening one’s tenure before entering office amounts to a pre-emptive surrender,” he said.
He further questioned the legal validity of such an arrangement, citing Section 137 of the 1999 Constitution which allows a president to seek re-election.
According to him, private political agreements cannot override constitutional provisions, adding that details of the alleged pact, including enforcement mechanisms and succession arrangements, remain unclear to the public.