ANAMBRA State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, has strongly criticised political figures who make campaign promises to serve for only one term in elected office, saying such statements are not only misleading but suggest the need for mental health evaluation.
Speaking on Friday during a mega endorsement rally for his second term bid in Anambra South Senatorial Zone, Governor Soludo described the idea of offering to serve just one term as irrational and an insult to the intelligence of the electorate.
Without directly naming anyone, Soludo’s comments appeared to be a thinly veiled response to former Anambra State Governor and 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, who had recently declared he was open to serving only one term if elected president in the interest of equity and national balance.
“Let’s be serious,” Soludo said in a scathing tone. “How can anybody with a functioning brain come before the people and say, ‘I will only serve one term’? Do you think you’re talking to fools? That kind of promise is not only dishonest, it’s completely absurd.”
Continuing, the governor added, “Any politician making such a pledge should be taken straight to a psychiatric hospital for proper examination. Something must be wrong with such a person.
“The Nigerian Constitution is very clear – elected public officers are entitled to two terms, not one.”
Soludo, who is currently in his first term as Anambra State Governor under the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), used the occasion to defend his own ambition for a second term, stating that he was within his constitutional rights to seek re-election and that any serious public servant would not shy away from completing the maximum term if the people desire it.
His comments came just a month after Peter Obi made headlines during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics on July 6, where he openly declared his readiness to serve only one term as president, citing the need to uphold the principle of zoning and regional equity.
“I don’t need a day more than four years,” Obi said in the interview. “I want to show Nigerians that good governance is possible. If leaders could destroy the country in just two years, why can’t it also be rebuilt in four?”
Obi added that his decision was partly motivated by the need to honour the “gentleman’s agreement” of rotational presidency, particularly the push for power to return to the North after the South’s turn.
But Soludo rejected that argument outright, noting that such “emotional blackmail” serves no practical or constitutional purpose and could even destabilise the democratic process.
“The constitution of Nigeria gives every elected executive officer, whether president or governor, a maximum of two terms of four years each. That is the law. Anything else is playing to the gallery,” Soludo said.
He insisted that no region or person should play politics with constitutional provisions, adding that leaders should focus on delivering tangible results during their tenures rather than making populist promises they cannot or should not keep.
The Anambra governor, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, has previously clashed with Obi over political ideology, particularly during the 2023 presidential election where he famously downplayed the chances of the Labour Party candidate despite his popularity in the Southeast.
Soludo’s recent comments are seen by some as another round in the ongoing political duel between two of Anambra’s most prominent sons.
While supporters of Peter Obi maintain that his one-term pledge is a mark of statesmanship and a commitment to national healing, critics argue it is a political gimmick with no constitutional basis.