The One-Term Gambit

Last Saturday in Yola, the Adamawa State capital, Governor Seyi Makinde, presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), stood before a town hall crowd and made a promise. If Nigerians elect him in 2027, he will serve one term and leave. “Our government will not last beyond four years. And it will be an all-inclusive government,” he said. He called it a transitional government of national unity, one that would “reset” the country and address insecurity, poverty, and the electricity problem that has followed every Nigerian government since independence.

He did not stop there. “We will not play politics. We will not undermine your rights. We will ensure that we tell you the...