Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, has warned the former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi against making promises of a one-term presidency, claiming that such commitments are deceitful.
Wike, speaking during his monthly media interaction in Abuja on Monday, supported former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s opinion that it is unreasonable for any presidential candidate to guarantee only one term.
According to him, political realities frequently evolve after a person takes office, making it impossible to rule out pursuing re-election.
According to the minister, if Obi is elected president, situations may change.
He said, “Even if you give him the six million votes back, all those who voted for him will continue to vote for him. What happened in 2023 will not be the same.
“Even if you give him the six million votes back, all those who voted for him will continue to vote for him. What happened in 2023 will not be the same.
“In this era of social media, which party will you run for? Is it labor? Where will he get the six million votes—under the PDP? Under the Labour Party? If you are running, people should know the party you are running for.
“They should know the platform. Is it in December that he will mention it? Atiku has said he will run in the ADC, and Amaechi said ADC, but he has not said where he will run.
“Why are you keeping your supporters guessing? So he goes where he likes, and when we have finished working, he comes back because he’s a saint and there is nobody in PDP.”
The former governor of Rivers State argued that Obi’s supporters were being misled, stressing that no president can genuinely commit to serving only one term.
He added, “It’s very clear El-Rufai said stop saying that you will run for four years, it’s not correct. I don’t want people to be deceived, circumstances will change. How do you sit down and a president tells you, ‘I will run for four years,’ then you believe him?
“How can you say that? That is not correct. Don’t tell Nigerians such a story; when you get there, you will now find out if you will run for a second or third term. Some people tried to run for a third term.”
