Paul Ikonne, an aspirant for the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial ticket in Abia South, has criticised Peter Obi’s proposal to serve a single four-year term as president, saying it would shortchange the south-east region.
Gatekeepers News reports that Ikonne spoke on Thursday during a media interactive session in Abuja.
The former Executive Secretary of the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) recently launched a political group, “Asiwaju Tsunami 2027,” in Abia State to mobilise support for the re-election of Bola Tinubu.
According to Ikonne, whenever the south-east eventually produces a president, the region should be allowed to complete an eight-year tenure like other geopolitical zones.
“Why would he (Peter Obi) come and say that he wants to be president for four years?” Ikonne asked.
“So he’s trying to deprive the southeasterners when other zones are doing eight years. No south-east man will vote for such a thing.
“We are not looking for a president that will just be there for four years. We want to produce, when the time comes, the Igbo president that will be there for eight years.”
The APC chieftain also predicted that Tinubu’s re-election in 2027 would be “a tsunami” across the country.
He claimed that governors and political stakeholders in the south-east, including Alex Otti, were backing Tinubu’s second-term bid.
Ikonne further said Hope Uzodimma had set up a mobilisation team to canvass support for Tinubu in markets and communities populated by Igbos nationwide.
“The Igbos will not make that mistake — and we will not be deceived to say let people come just for four years,” he said.
“It may take him (Obi) two years to appoint his ministers. Before they will finish taking him around the villa, finish meeting with the permanent secretaries and all that, four years will be over.”
Ikonne also claimed that Obi no longer commands the level of support he enjoyed during the 2023 presidential election.
“Peter Obi will no longer have that kind of wave that came in 2023. Labour Party is not really on ground in Abia state,” he added.
