Senatorial aspirant and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Abia South, Prince Paul Ikonne, has dismissed proposals for a single four-year presidential term, insisting that the South-East will demand nothing less than eight years when it eventually produces a president.
Ikonne, a former Executive Secretary of the National Agricultural Land Development Authority, made the remarks during a media interactive session in Abuja on Thursday, shortly after launching a grassroots mobilisation group tagged “Asiwaju Tsunami in 2027,” aimed at boosting support for President Bola Tinubu in the South-East.
He described the 2027 election as different from 2023, saying Tinubu’s earlier victory was a “wind,” while the next would be a “tsunami.”
Reacting to proposals attributed to the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) and former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi for a single four-year presidential term, Ikonne argued that such an arrangement would disadvantage the South-East.
“Why would he come and say that he wants to be President for four years? So he is trying to deprive the Southeasterners when other zones are doing eight years. No South-East man will vote for such a thing. No, not at all,” he said.
He added that the region’s political aspiration is to produce an Igbo president who would serve a full two-term tenure when it eventually gets the opportunity.
“We are not looking for a President who 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,” Ikonne said.
Ikonne also questioned the practicality of a four-year tenure, arguing that the time would be largely spent settling into office and navigating administrative processes.
He further claimed that support for President Tinubu’s re-election bid is growing in the South-East, pointing to political realignments in the region as evidence of increasing backing ahead of 2027.