People’s Redemption Party (PRP) presidential candidate Donald Duke has said Nigeria’s challenges are not only due to poor leadership but also the absence of a clear vision between successive administrations.
Duke, former governor of Cross River State, said the country had gradually lost its way and was performing poorly, stressing that Nigeria needed leaders with a clearly articulated long-term vision to get out of trouble.
He spoke at a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday, where he explained his decision to contest the 2027 presidential election, saying he wanted to contribute to the national conversation and offer an alternative to the current political leadership.
Duke said: “Nigeria’s problem is one of leadership. Yes, fundamentally, but it is also one of vision. There have been too many successive governments without any vision.”
According to him, the country had not adequately prepared the younger generations for leadership, unlike systems where potential leaders are exposed to the workings of the government before assuming senior positions.
He recalled his involvement in identifying young Nigerians who could serve in government during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, saying the country must deliberately groom the next generation of leaders.
Explaining his renewed ambition, the former governor said he wanted to be “part of the discussion” and contribute to finding solutions to the country’s problems instead of limiting himself to criticizing those in power.
“I want to keep the conversation going, not defame or abuse the President (Bola Tinubu). There is nothing you are going to say about the President that is not already available. So why are you repeating it?” asked.
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Duke challenged the federal government to articulate where it intended to take Nigeria in the next 10, 20 or 50 years, arguing that each administration should build for the future rather than embark on projects without a clearly defined national development plan.
“My challenge with the current administration is that there is no articulated vision of where we are going and there is no growth in the system,” he said, adding that Nigerians should be able to look forward to a better tomorrow than today.
He suggested that opposition presidential candidates should sit around a table and agree that one person should take the lead, although he said he was unsure when such an agreement could be reached. However, Duke argued that a collaborative opposition proposal offered a more hopeful route to forming a new government in 2027.
Duke also argued that the ruling APC should not get too comfortable with the assumption that because it has more than 30 governors, it would automatically win the elections.
According to him, while some of the governors align themselves with the APC, they will not openly campaign for the party nor work with the determination to retain it in power beyond 2027.
Duke stated that most northern states would probably work for the emergence of new leadership rather than continuing with the Tinubu administration “because they are the most affected by the policies of this government”.
However, he admitted that the opposition, in its current “fragmented” state, would find it difficult to topple the APC unless they decided to collaborate.
When asked when such a discussion and agreement could be reached, Duke replied that he was not sure, although he admitted that a collaborative formula on the part of the opposition remained a more hopeful strategy for forming a new government in 2027.
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