Former Cross River State Governor and presidential candidate of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP), Donald Duke, has warned that the All Progressives Congress (APC) could retain power in the 2027 presidential election if opposition parties fail to unite behind a common candidate.
Duke made the submission during an interview on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, Ogun State, on Monday, October 19.
According to him, opposition parties risk repeating the political fragmentation that characterised the 2023 election, allowing the ruling APC to emerge victorious even without securing a majority of votes cast nationwide.
Duke said the experience of the 2015 presidential election demonstrated the importance of opposition cooperation, noting that several opposition parties came together under the APC to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which had governed Nigeria at the federal level for 16 years.
“The reason why the opposition was able to unseat the ruling party in 2015 was that they came together.”
He argued that the 2023 election produced a different outcome because opposition votes were divided among multiple candidates.
Duke said, “When you look at the results of 2023, you find that the current administration, the APC government, only won about 10 percent of the vote. The opposition had over 60% of the vote.”
He maintained that Nigeria’s presidential system favours the emergence of two dominant political forces, arguing that a fragmented opposition could make it easier for an incumbent party to satisfy the constitutional requirements for victory.
“In a presidential system of government, or a presidential democracy, you need just two parties. Where you have more than two parties, most likely, the incumbent party will always win because the opposition will split their votes which we saw in 2023.”
Duke further warned that opposition parties should not assume that the APC would need to secure more than half of the votes cast to remain in power.
“I’m repeating over again that if we don’t all come together, the APC would win the election. Not by majority of the votes cast. No, the APC knows very well that it can never win a majority of the votes cast,” he said.
He explained that under Nigeria’s constitutional framework for presidential elections, a candidate can win without securing more than 50 per cent of the total votes, provided the required geographical spread and other conditions are satisfied.
Duke said the APC’s control of several state governments could give it an advantage in meeting the spread requirement.
“It just requires a split of the opposition, even if it’s by one and have 25% in over 24 states. Now, the APC has control of about 32 states. They have 32 state governments. Easily, those states will produce 25%. Whether they win or not, they’ll at least give the APC 25%. So they’ve already achieved that spread,” he said.
However, Duke said opposition cooperation should not be based solely on the objective of defeating President Bola Tinubu or removing the APC from office.
He urged opposition leaders to first agree on a common national agenda and determine the direction in which they want to take Nigeria before choosing a presidential candidate.
“Coming together is not essentially to remove the APC and replace them with another party that will probably do the same thing. Let’s have a common objective for Nigeria first and foremost. Where do we want to take Nigeria to?”
The PRP candidate also called on opposition politicians to subordinate their personal ambitions to what he described as the broader interests of the country.
“The first thing you have to get rid of is your ego. Submit or just lock away your ego. You’re talking about the administration of the lives of people, right? You cannot put yourself above,” Duke said.
He also signalled his willingness to support another candidate if the opposition’s choice emerged through a credible process based on an agreed national agenda.
“I don’t have to be president,” Duke declared.
Duke urged opposition parties to learn from the 2023 experience, warning that reproducing the same political strategy while expecting a different electoral outcome would be misguided.
“If you do the same thing that you did in 2023 and you do it again today, you think you’re going to be different or you’re not more popular than you were in 2023, then I think you’re not thinking right,” he said.
