Donald Duke, presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), says he is willing to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race in favour of a consensus opposition candidate.
Gatekeepers News reports that Duke, a former governor of Cross River State, made the statement during an interview with Channels Television on Monday.
He said the opposition’s choice of candidate should be determined by who is best positioned to achieve their shared objective of defeating the ruling party.
Asked by the programme’s anchor, Seun Okinbaloye, whether he would be willing to step down for another presidential candidate, Duke answered in the affirmative.
“Absolutely. First of all, once we have a commonality and objective, the next question is who is best suited for this, right? But the beauty of it is that it brings you into the playground. You know, I was liking this thing to sports,” he said.
Duke compared the political contest to a football match, arguing that only those actively involved in the contest can influence its outcome.
“When you go watch a match in a stadium, it could be 50,000, 60,000 people in the stadium, each one believing that he’s a soccer expert, knows better than the coach, knows better than the players,” he said.
“But it’s only the 25 folks on the field of play. The 22 players, the referee and the two linesmen that would determine the play.
“I want to be in that because I think you need some voice of reason amongst a lot of them.”
‘Tinubu could win if opposition remains divided’
Duke warned that President Bola Tinubu could secure re-election in 2027 if opposition parties fail to unite behind a common candidate.
“Absolutely, with the chequered opposition it won’t work; Tinubu might win,” he said.
According to him, opposition parties should focus on anticipating and mitigating potential challenges that could arise during the election rather than waiting to complain after the results are announced.
“The reality is that things are bound to happen on that (election) day, how to mitigate those things should be the major concern of the opposition,” Duke said.
“I don’t like people who cry wolf after it has happened and all that. We have done this several times over, we should anticipate it, and united we stand if we do it, if we don’t, then we will only have ourselves to blame because it has repeated itself.”
‘Tinubu is formidable politician but weak on governance’
Duke acknowledged Tinubu’s political strength but criticised his performance in government, arguing that the president does not deserve another term in office.
“Give it to him, he is a formidable politician, my issue with him is governance not politics. He is weak on governance, from what we have seen over the last three years he is very weak on governance,” he said.
The PRP candidate warned that allowing the current administration to continue while poverty rises could worsen the country’s situation.
Duke said that if elected president in 2027, he would establish what he described as a better governance structure than the one currently in place.
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, and Peter Obi, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, are among the major opposition contenders for the 2027 presidential election.
However, it remains uncertain whether opposition parties will ultimately agree on a consensus candidate to challenge Tinubu.
