Dele Farotimi Dismisses Jonathan’s 2nd Return, Urges Focus on Structural Problems -

Human rights activist and lawyer, Dele Farotimi, has dismissed suggestions of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan returning to frontline politics, insisting that no leader can fix Nigeria without addressing its deep-rooted structural problems.

Reacting to reports of Jonathan’s possible re-emergence ahead of the 2027 elections during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday, Farotimi said leadership changes alone would not solve the country’s challenges.

“A thousand Goodluck Ebele Jonathans cannot solve the problems of Nigeria. They might as well go ahead to increase his brain powers by factors of a thousand for good measure.

If we do not address our structural problems and tell ourselves the basic truths we owe to ourselves, nothing is going to change,” he stated.

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Farotimi Recounts Jonathan’s Criticisms

Farotimi noted that Jonathan was once heavily criticised and removed amid promises of a better Nigeria, yet the same issues persist.

“They can recycle all these people as many times as they care. This was the same Jonathan that was horribly vilified and labelled. The press, the pulpit, and the mosque all said his removal would solve our problems, and here we are,” he said.

He stressed that the nation’s problems transcend individuals, warning that removing current President Bola Tinubu without reforming the system would only perpetuate failure.

“If you removed Bola Ahmed Tinubu from office today, and you do not touch that evil system that has produced the kind of people who have ruined the country, all this talk about Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is just more distraction from the political ‘ruining’ class,” Farotimi argued.

The activist emphasised the need for institution-building rather than seeking a political “messiah.”

“It’s about building enduring systems. How do you rebrand a failure of 2015 into a saint and savior in 2025? Ten years have gone full cycle, and we’re back saying we were better off where we were,” he added.

Human rights activist and lawyer, Dele Farotimi, has said that Nigerians should be interested in a former presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, to achieve if elected as Nigeria’s president to serve for a single term presidency.

Farotimi, known for his outspoken advocacy for justice and systemic reforms, stressed that long-term impact does not require a long stay in office.

“I first heard this one-term presidency idea from Peter Obi during the election cycle. It’s not about how long he says he wishes to serve; I’m more interested in what he intends to do with that time.

“If I ever run for the presidency of Nigeria, I wouldn’t require more than two years to do everything I need to do. You don’t need a long term to achieve lasting change, but the question should be: what does he intend to do with the one term?”

He argued that Nigeria’s past leaders wasted longer periods in office without meaningful progress.

“(Olusegun) Obasanjo had eight years; what did he do with it? (Muhammadu) Buhari had eight years; what did he do with it? He ruined Nigeria. (President Bola) Tinubu has had two years, and he is taking us back 50 years.

“So it’s not really about how much time the person spends; it’s a function of what they do with the time that they have,” he said.

Obasanjo was Nigeria’s president from May 1999 to May 2007 while the late Buhari was in office from May 2015 to May 2023 when he handed over to former Lagos governor Tinubu.

Obi had overtime reiterated his vow to serve only a single four-year term if elected president, a pledge he first made during a widely attended X Space session in June.

The declaration has sparked mixed reactions, with some questioning his sincerity.

More recently, Obi suggested that Nigeria adopt a single five-year presidential term, similar to the model in South Korea, where re-election is not permitted.

“If I have the opportunity, we should stop having a second tenure for presidents. It should be five years. That is what is in South Korea, so people come in and know that they have a job to do,” Obi had said.