Kwankwaso: Obi Committed to Returning Power to North After Four Years
The vice-presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr Rabiu Kwankwaso, has confirmed that the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, signed a written agreement committing to serve only a single four-year term if elected president in 2027 before power returns to the North.
Kwankwaso made the disclosure during an interview on Channels Television on Monday, describing the arrangement as part of the party’s power-sharing formula designed to promote national balance and political stability.
The former Kano State governor said he had no reason to doubt Obi’s commitment to honouring the agreement.
“Oh yes, I personally believe him. I don’t think, based on what I now know about him, that he will change his mind when the time comes. We are all gentlemen,” he said.
Asked whether the understanding had been formalised, Kwankwaso said both the party and the two candidates signed separate agreements.
“We have done one for the party, and we have done another one between the two of us,” he said.
According to him, the agreement provides that Obi would serve one four-year term from 2027 to 2031, after which the presidency would rotate back to the North.
“The agreement is what you said, that for four years, we will work together, team together as a group, party, friends and brothers so that after his term of four years (2027–2031), it comes back to the North. That is the general agreement.”
Kwankwaso said he accepted the vice-presidential nomination because both leaders agreed that the South should hold the presidency for one term before power rotates.
“Together we felt that the presidency should go to the South for four years; thereafter it will come back to the North.
“We believe that should be the consensus of everybody in this country so that we can move together as a family, both North and South.”
On whether he intended to seek the presidency in 2031, Kwankwaso said the NDC remained focused on securing victory in the 2027 election while pursuing its broader political objectives.
“We have a short-term plan which we are executing now and, of course, we also have our medium and long-term plans for the country, and that is what we are working on now,” he said.
Obi had in May declared that he would serve only one term if elected president, saying the decision was intended to foster political stability and strengthen national unity.
“I want to be a one-term president because of stability. I would not stay a day, with a gun to my head, longer than four years,” Obi had said.
The NDC has consistently defended its power-sharing arrangement, presenting the Obi-Kwankwaso ticket as a consensus aimed at balancing regional interests ahead of the 2027 presidential election.