Former Cross River State Governor and presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Donald Duke, has warned that divisions among major opposition figures could strengthen President Bola Tinubu’s chances of securing re-election in 2027.
Gatekeepers News reports that Duke said the opposition would struggle to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) if prominent contenders, including Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), pursued separate presidential ambitions.
He made the remarks on Wednesday during an appearance on Channels Television’s Morning Brief, where he discussed the prospects of opposition parties in the 2027 presidential election.
According to Duke, the fragmentation of opposition votes was a major factor in the outcome of the 2023 election, adding that a similar situation could benefit the ruling party in the next presidential contest.
“We don’t understand what we’re doing. In the United States, which is the system we’ve largely just copied verbatim from, they have two major parties. If you fragment the Democrats, for instance, into two or three other parties, the Republicans will remain in office forever. That’s what we’re doing,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Atiku Abubakar 2027 Presidential Campaign Council has cautioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) against actions that could compromise the credibility of the forthcoming elections.
The council said the success of the 2027 general elections would depend largely on the electoral commission’s neutrality, transparency and ability to conduct a process free from violence and manipulation.
In a statement issued on Wednesday and signed by its director of media and publicity, Kola Ologbondiyan, the campaign council said Atiku remained prepared to participate in the election, provided INEC guaranteed a credible process.
The statement followed the commission’s World Press Conference held on Tuesday.
Ologbondiyan urged INEC to demonstrate its independence by resisting any attempt by the ruling party to influence its decisions or operations.
He also stressed the need for the commission to ensure that Nigerians who register as voters can collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), warning that registration figures would mean little if eligible voters were unable to obtain their cards.
“Reading out figures of registration is nothing; what matters is the number of cards actually collected by Nigerians. What gives a citizen power on election day is not that his name is in a register somewhere, but that he has his PVC in his hand,” he said.
The campaign council expressed concern over alleged bureaucratic bottlenecks and delays at PVC collection centres, particularly in areas considered opposition strongholds.
It urged INEC to prevent disenfranchisement resulting from administrative obstacles, deliberate delays or unequal access to voter cards.
“We are carefully watching every step of INEC. Nigerians and the international community do too. The commission should stay neutral, as no institution should push Nigerians to the wall by compromising the electoral process,” Ologbondiyan added.
He said Nigerians had endured considerable economic hardship and could not afford an election compromised by manipulation or institutional bias.
The council called on INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, to decentralise PVC collection to ward level, extend collection hours and introduce technology to notify voters when their cards were ready.
ADC Vows to Resist Electoral Manipulation
Separately, David Mark, national chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), declared that the party would not allow itself to be rigged out of the 2027 elections.
Mark made the statement on Wednesday when he received members of the governing council of the Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development at the party’s headquarters in Abuja.
The delegation was led by former Chief Justice of Nigeria Olukayode Ariwoola as part of the centre’s stakeholder engagements with political parties and leaders ahead of the general elections.
Ariwoola said the centre was committed to promoting credible elections and urged the ADC leadership to encourage its candidates and members to comply with INEC regulations and shun political violence.
Responding, Mark said the ADC was committed to observing electoral rules and promoting public confidence in the democratic process.
“We hold ourselves to the highest standards of good conduct as a political party. We will play by the rules. But we will not accept rigging or allow ourselves to be rigged out,” he said.
Yiaga Africa Survey Shows Increased Voting Interest
Meanwhile, a new survey by Yiaga Africa has found that 84 per cent of Nigerians are likely or very likely to vote in the 2027 general elections, although concerns about insecurity, vote buying and distrust in electoral institutions could affect actual turnout.
The findings are contained in the third round of the organisation’s National Voting Intentions Survey (NVIS 3.0), released on Wednesday under the title Willing but Wary: How Nigerians Intend to Vote in 2027.
According to the survey, voter intention increased from 73 per cent in March 2026 to 84 per cent in September 2026. However, confidence in INEC’s ability to conduct credible elections declined.
Only 34 per cent of respondents expressed confidence in the commission, compared with 45 per cent recorded in each of the two previous survey rounds.
The report was based on interviews with 2,470 Nigerians aged 18 and above across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The interviews were conducted in September 2026 through telephone calls and, for the first time, face-to-face engagements in rural communities.
Insecurity emerged as the biggest potential obstacle to voter participation, with 61 per cent of respondents saying fear of violence could prevent them from voting.
Yiaga Africa said the findings showed that Nigerians remained willing to participate in elections, but warned that this interest might not translate into actual turnout without improvements in security and public confidence in the electoral process.
The survey and the statements by opposition leaders have brought renewed attention to opposition unity, electoral credibility and voter access ahead of the 2027 general elections.
