Former Governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke, has said President Bola Tinubu no longer enjoys the same popularity he had leading up to the 2023 elections.
Duke, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), said the economic hardship Nigerians are facing under the Tinubu government has left them disillusioned with his governance.
Asked on Monday during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today about Tinubu’s current political strength, Duke argued that President Tinubu no longer enjoys the level of sympathy he had during the last election.
“I don’t think so, I think his governance has exposed the weakness of the contraption called. I don’t think he has the sympathies he had in 2023,” Duke said.
He said Nigerians are now struggling to survive due to the economic hardship caused by the government’s policies and programmes.
“Things have gone harder for people, a lot of people are disillusioned by his style of governance, hope has turned into despair. Yes, you talk about structures and all that but I think on the election day they will be fighting for their own survival,” he said.
Despite his submission on Tinubu’s reduced political influence going into the 2027 general elections, NEWSNGR reports that Duke said the opposition parties may still lose to him if they don’t work together.
He said a divided opposition would struggle to defeat Tinubu at the polls, warning that he may still emerge as a minority President if the opposition parties fail to work together.
He therefore said the opposition must find a way to unite and avoid a repetition of the 2023 elections.
“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. 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,” he said.
Tinubu Weak On Governance
Duke admitted that President Tinubu is a formidable politician but lamented that the former Governor of Lagos State is weak on governance.
“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,” Duke said.
He warned that Tinubu must not be allowed to return to office for a second term, arguing that the country is already headed in the wrong direction under his watch and his return will deepen poverty among Nigerians.
The PRP presidential candidate said he would put in place a better governance structure than Tinubu’s if elected president in 2027.
Willing To Step Down
Duke also said he was willing to step down from the 2027 presidential race for any candidate the opposition agrees on to challenge Tinubu.
“Absolutely. First of all, once we have commonality in objective, the next question is who is best suited for this? You need some voice of reason amongst the lot of them,” he responded when asked about his willingness to step down for a consensus opposition candidate.
