Actor-turned-politician Kenneth Okonkwo has claimed that Mr. Peter Obi’s pledge to serve only one term as President, if elected, was a calculated political move to secure votes from the North.
Okonkwo, a member of the opposition coalition, made the statement on Friday while speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily. According to him, Obi recognized that without such a promise, he risked losing northern support.
“Any party serious about defeating an incumbent must agree that its presidential candidate would serve for one term so that no side will feel cheated,” Kenneth Okonkwo explained.
He further stated that the strategy was not Obi’s original idea.
“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,” he said.
Kenneth Okonkwo stressed that the one-term proposal was meant to reassure all regions that power-sharing would remain balanced.
“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.’ So that’s just the whole idea about it.”
