The political discourse leading up to Nigeria's next general elections has taken a highly contentious turn after the Arewa Consultative Forum, the premier socio-political organization representing the interests of the northern region, officially rejected the one-term presidency pledge made by Peter Obi. Obi, the presidential candidate of the opposition Nigerian Democratic Congress, recently sparked intense national debate by promising to serve only a single four-year term if elected to the nation's highest office. However, the
northern apex body has swiftly dismantled this pledge, characterizing the political commitment as entirely unnecessary, structurally undemocratic, and fundamentally contrary to established constitutional principles.
The sweeping critique emerged during an exclusive, wide-ranging interview with the National Secretary of the Arewa Consultative Forum, Alhaj Tukur Baba. While addressing the shifting dynamics of the political landscape, the northern leadership did not limit its grievances to opposition campaign promises. In an equally blistering assessment, Baba launched a severe attack on the sitting administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, officially rating the government's performance after three years in office as completely shambolic. The dual-pronged critique from the influential northern body highlights a growing wave of institutional dissatisfaction within a region that traditionally plays a decisive role in determining the outcome of presidential contests.
The controversy originally stems from a high-profile national television interview where Peter Obi, the former Governor of Anambra State, vowed that a single four-year tenure would be entirely sufficient for any sincere, patriotic, and reform-minded leader to successfully transform the socio-economic trajectory of the West African nation. Attempting to calm deep-seated northern anxieties regarding geopolitical power distribution, Obi went a step further by declaring that he would willingly and automatically hand over the reins of executive power to a northern successor at the expiration of his single term, stating dramatically that he would honor this rotation even if a gun were held directly to his head.
Reacting directly to these remarks, Tukur Baba argued forcefully that such a political commitment was not only tactical campaign posturing but a dangerous precedent that could actively undermine the foundational tenets of representative democracy. The Arewa Consultative Forum National Secretary insisted that such a promise is totally unnecessary, emphasizing that even when evaluated strictly as a sensational piece of campaign material, it remains completely uncalled for.
He elaborated on the legal and structural flaws of Obi's proposal, pointing out that the systemic rotation of executive power between geographic regions is completely absent from the text of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Baba stressed that regional zoning matrices remain exclusively internal administrative matters for individual political parties to navigate, rather than institutional mandates that should dictate national governance. He noted that another leading presidential candidate had previously tried to mainstream similar regional promises, a trend that the northern organization views as fundamentally incorrect and misleading to the electorate.
The northern scribe further warned that institutionalizing or continuously emphasizing regional power rotation could inadvertently deepen the volatile ethnoreligious fault lines that have historically threatened the stability of the country. He maintained that the practice is inherently undemocratic, arguing that Nigeria cannot claim to be practicing a true democracy while simultaneously erecting arbitrary structural roadblocks to restrict leadership options.
Baba raised a troubling hypothetical scenario, warning that if the political class successfully codifies regional rotation today, the system could easily degenerate into an explicit religious affair tomorrow, where various factions will emerge to demand power based strictly on spiritual denominations. With Nigeria boasting at least four hundred distinct ethnic groups and three major religious blocks, the Arewa Consultative Forum argues that the more the political class clings to regional power shifts, the more the nation will actively embrace internal division.
Questioning the logical consistency of Obi’s pledge, Baba argued that it would be profoundly unfair to deny Nigerian voters, regardless of their gender or regional origin, the democratic opportunity to re-elect a highly performing leader simply because of an emotional campaign promise. He questioned why Peter Obi would lock himself into such a rigid framework, asking what would happen if Obi assumed the presidency and performed excellently during his first four years. Under such a scenario, Baba insists it would be a disservice to the electorate to force a performing leader out of office. He suggested that by promising a single term from the outset, a candidate implies they may not give their absolute best, thereby acting unfairly toward voters when what the country desperately needs is simply good governance, accountability, security, education, healthcare, and robust anti-corruption efforts.
Shifting his focus to the performance of the Tinubu administration, Baba expressed deep disappointment, accusing the current government of failing to contain widespread insecurity or alleviate worsening economic hardship. Despite numerous high-profile restructurings of the national security architecture, the northern leader lamented that mass killings, sophisticated kidnapping syndicates, and rampant banditry have continued to expand across the territory. He pointed out that if President Tinubu were truly succeeding, the positive impact would be visible on the ground, yet notorious bandit leaders continue to brazenly brag about their exploits on social media platforms without facing decisive state consequences.
The Arewa Consultative Forum official also delivered a scathing critique of the federal government's economic policies, rising tax rates, and controversial infrastructure projects. He noted with irony that while the administration has spent vast resources isolating the Aso Villa presidential complex from the national grid, ordinary citizens are being forced to pay exorbitant rates for electricity they rarely see.
He observed that the prices of basic commodities are consistently rising amid an aggressive regime of pervasive taxation, noting that even a simple razor blade now carries a value-added tax burden. He concluded his assessment by lambasting the destruction of the domestic middle class and expressing alarm over the nation's skyrocketing debt profile, stating that the regime has taken more loans than previous administrations combined, culminating in a performance that can only be described as shambolic.
