By Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party, PRP, Donald Duke, has said he joined the 2027 presidential race to tackle Nigeria’s challenges and provide Nigerians with a new lease of life.
Duke, who spoke to journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, lamented the country’s leadership challenges since the return to democratic rule in 1979, saying successive administrations had failed to provide the vision required to transform the country.
The former Cross River State governor said although previous leaders came into office with political programmes, they failed to provide the leadership vision needed to achieve meaningful economic and political development.
“There has been frustration in the political system since the return to democracy. In reality, we could have done better than what we have if we had the right leadership. Since the return to democratic rule, there have been successive governments but there has not been one with leadership vision.
“That is why I have put up myself in order to provide the needed leadership to change the political question and provide the required development and growth. We in the political system do not need mudslinging but to tell Nigerians what we can do for the country,” he said.
Duke argued that many previous administrations assumed office without a clearly articulated vision, resulting in policies that failed to address the needs of Nigerians.
He said the opposition could defeat the incumbent administration if political parties were willing to unite and agree on the candidate best positioned to lead a common front.
According to him, failure by the opposition to present a united front could give the President Bola Tinubu-led administration an advantage in the 2027 election.
Duke maintained that the All Progressives Congress, APC, could still lose the election despite its control of more than 30 states if opposition parties united around a common objective.
On the economy, the PRP candidate said he supported the idea of subsidising petroleum products, arguing that government should not use the country’s resources to impose additional hardship on citizens.
He criticised the removal of fuel subsidy and the sale of petroleum products at what he described as foreign-market rates, saying Nigerians should benefit from the country’s natural resources.
Duke also backed the establishment of state police, saying it was long overdue given the rising level of poverty-related crime and insecurity across the country.
On student loans, he described the initiative as a good idea but warned that beneficiaries might struggle to repay the loans without adequate employment opportunities.
He therefore called for employment-generating policies to be integrated into the student loan programme and other government interventions.
Duke also criticised the disparity between government expenditure and revenue generation, saying Nigeria needed policies that would better align monetary and fiscal measures.
He said such measures should be designed to stimulate wealth creation and improve the living conditions of Nigerians.
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