Peoples Redemption Party presidential candidate and former Cross River State Governor Donald Duke has called for rigorous scrutiny of those seeking Nigeria’s presidency, arguing that the country’s economic and security challenges leave little room for untested leadership.
Duke said presidential aspirants should be examined on their experience, capacity, record and plans before being entrusted with national leadership. He described the country’s condition as severe but said recovery remained possible with a change in direction.
The former governor argued that rising poverty and insecurity had increased the urgency for competent government. He said different parts of the country were experiencing economic deterioration at different rates and that national policy needed to respond to those disparities.
Assessing President Bola Tinubu, Duke acknowledged the President’s political experience but said his criticism centred on governance rather than political skill. He said he believed Nigeria required a stronger governance structure focused on the productivity and security of citizens.
Duke said the central purpose of government should be to create conditions in which people could be productive in a safe and orderly society. Investments in education, healthcare and infrastructure, he argued, should ultimately be judged by how they improve citizens’ welfare and economic capacity.
Drawing on his tenure as Cross River governor from 1999 to 2007, Duke said states could stimulate economic activity by developing their comparative advantages. He cited agriculture and tourism among the areas his administration pursued and defended the Tinapa project as an initiative that was operational when he left office.
On opposition politics, Duke warned that a coalition should not be built solely around removing the incumbent administration. He said opposition groups first needed to agree on a common national programme and then determine which candidate was best equipped to implement it.
He said replacing one political leadership with another without a clear alternative programme would short change Nigerians, insisting that competence, experience and capacity should be central to the 2027 debate.
