Breaking: Peter Obi Announces When He Will Stop Trying to Become Nigeria's President
- Peter Obi said his chances of contesting the 2031 presidential election are very slim, citing Nigeria's informal zoning arrangement
- The Labour Party candidate explained that if the presidency shifts to the North in 2031, he would be 78 years old by the time it returns to the South
- Obi made the remarks during an interview with media personality Rufai Oseni, where he addressed his political future beyond 2027
The NDC presidential candidate Peter Obi has said it is highly unlikely he will contest for the Nigerian presidency in 2031, with the country's unwritten power-rotation convention standing as the principal obstacle.
Obi made the comments during an interview with media personality Rufai Oseni, responding to questions about what he would do politically if his 2027 presidential bid falls short.
Source: Twitter
The former Anambra State governor told Oseni that his next move would hinge on both the result of the 2027 election and where the presidency is zoned for the 2031 cycle.
"I don't know until after the outcome of the 2027 election," he said.
Zoning and age the deciding factors
Obi recalled that the question of a potential 2031 run had already arisen during a conversation with a secondary school student, prompting him to lay out his thinking in plain terms.
"I said because if I don't run now, by the next time it comes, believing in the zoning formula, it will go to the North," he explained.
"If it goes North in 2031, by the time it comes again to the South, I will be 78 years old, and I don't think I would be doing this at that age."
Nigeria's informal rotation principle alternates the presidency between the country's northern and southern regions, though it carries no constitutional backing.
Obi's position is that should the arrangement hold and the North produce the next president after 2027, the South's next turn would arrive when he considers himself too old to campaign.
He did acknowledge a narrow scenario in which he might reconsider.
If the presidency remained in the South through 2031, another candidacy could become possible, though he was quick to play down that prospect.
"If it's still in the South in the next election, maybe, but the probability is very slim," Obi said.
He added that his reluctance to state his position more firmly stemmed from concern about how it might be interpreted.
"I don't want to say it because people might think that I'm saying it because of some people," he said.
The comments mark one of the clearest signals yet from the 2023 presidential runner-up that 2027 represents his most realistic window for a shot at the nation's highest office.
Umahi explains why Obi refused debate
Previously, Legit.ng reported that minister of Works David Umahi has publicly accused Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, of avoiding a governance debate.
Umahi said Obi avoided him because he knew his record as a former governor could not survive direct scrutiny.
Source: Legit.ng
