The presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Donald Duke, has explained that his decision to return to frontline politics ahead of the 2027 presidential election was driven by what he described as the “clear and apparent urgency” of Nigeria’s situation, insisting that his objective is to help unite the opposition rather than contribute to the fragmentation of votes.

Duke, former governor of Cross River State, said he could no longer remain a spectator at a time when he believed the country was heading in a dangerous direction and required urgent intervention.

Speaking in an interview, Duke said his return to politics was not simply about seeking another opportunity to contest for political office, but about responding to what he considered an increasingly precarious national situation.

“It’s the urgency, the clear and apparent urgency of where we are today. You know, you could be a spectator and make all sorts of analysis or you can get involved. And I’ve chosen that I cannot just sit on the sidelines anymore while things are unfolding the way they are.”

He said the political generation currently in charge of the country was broadly his generation, noting that he and President Bola Tinubu belonged to the same university class, but argued that the direction Nigeria was taking required immediate action.

“The folks who are in charge of the country today are generally my generation, as it were. And the president and I were a class of 99. But the direction the country is going, I think, requires urgent, very urgent intervention. It is not something you can watch from a distance and hope it corrects itself.”

Duke warned that Nigeria could not afford to continue along its present trajectory for another four years without facing increasingly serious consequences.

“I do not see us going, you know, we used to say, look, where we would be in 10, 20, 30 years. Another four years, if we don’t change the trajectory, I see disasters where it’s already looming. It will deepen further, and the consequences will be far more severe than what we are experiencing now.”

It is against that background, he said, that he had decided to move from being an observer of Nigeria’s political affairs to becoming an active participant in the process of changing the country’s direction.

Duke, who is now the presidential candidate of the PRP, said his position outside the ruling party automatically placed him within the opposition, but stressed that the opposition could only become effective if its various components were prepared to work together.

“I’m not a member of the ruling party, as it were. So automatically, I’m in the opposition. Ideally, the opposition should come together, because if you are all pulling in different directions, you weaken the very thing you are trying to build.”

He argued that Nigeria’s opposition problem was not necessarily the absence of politicians or political parties, but the failure of those forces to organise themselves around a common objective.

“The reason why you have a stable democracy in the Western world, you have primarily two major parties, not one party, but two major parties. It’s either or. People may disagree on ideology, but they still converge into structures that make governance possible.”

According to Duke, Nigeria’s opposition has instead become fragmented, with different political interests pursuing essentially the same broad objective without establishing the cooperation required to make that objective achievable.

“We have a splintered opposition with a common goal, right? It doesn’t work that way. Everybody says they want change, everybody says they want progress, but they are all operating separately, and that weakens the possibility of real impact.”

He said his intention was therefore to become a moderating voice within the opposition and help address the personal ambitions and rivalries that have made it difficult for opposition forces to unite.

“So I want to be a voice of reason because eventually, I think we all have to come together to decide where this country will go. And if we continue to allow personal ambition to override collective interest, then we will keep going in circles.”

Duke said the opposition needed somebody capable of speaking to the different political interests and egos involved in the struggle for power, particularly because, in his assessment, the country could not afford continued political fragmentation.

“And the egos at play, right? We need someone who can help or speak to these egos because we’re in a bad place. It is not about who is right or wrong anymore; it is about whether we can even keep the country stable enough to function.”

For Duke, therefore, his 2027 presidential bid should not be understood simply as the addition of another candidate to an already crowded opposition field.

Rather, he sees his participation as part of a broader effort to bring opposition forces closer together and create a political arrangement capable of presenting Nigerians with a credible alternative.

His argument is that opposition politicians may have different political identities, ambitions and platforms, but they cannot afford to lose sight of the larger national objective.

Duke’s intervention comes against the backdrop of continuing efforts by opposition politicians and parties to establish a formidable challenge to the ruling APC ahead of the 2027 general election.

But rather than presenting his candidacy simply as a personal quest for the presidency, the former Cross River governor has framed it as an attempt to contribute to the search for a political arrangement in which opposition forces can eventually work together.

His experience as governor, he suggested, had also reinforced his belief that political leadership should ultimately be measured by its capacity to produce results rather than by the size of the political following surrounding an individual.

But on the specific question of the 2027 opposition struggle, his message was clear: fragmentation cannot produce the kind of political alternative Nigeria needs.

“Ideally, the opposition should come together. That is the only way you can even begin to present anything meaningful to Nigerians.”

And for Duke, that unity will require more than political calculations; it will require leaders willing to suppress personal egos and negotiate their differences in the larger interest of the country.

“We need someone who can help or speak to these egos because we’re in a bad place. If we don’t find a way to rise above individual ambition, then we are not serious about the future of this country.”

It is in that space, Duke says, that he intends to play his part — not merely as another presidential aspirant, but as a “voice of reason” in an opposition that he believes must ultimately find a way to come together if it is to offer Nigerians a genuine alternative in 2027. (The Sun)

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