Presidential candidate of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP), Donald Duke, has warned that the All Progressives Congress (APC) could retain power if opposition parties fail to unite behind a common candidate ahead of the 2027 general election.
Speaking during an exclusive interview on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, Ogun State on Monday, October 19, Duke said the division of opposition votes could give the ruling party an electoral advantage, even without winning a majority of votes cast nationally.
He argued that Nigeria’s presidential system makes opposition unity necessary, citing the 2015 election, when opposition parties came together under the All Progressives Congress to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party, which had held power 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. 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.”
According to him, the opposition’s failure to replicate that strategy in 2023 contributed to its inability to defeat the APC.
“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,” he said.
Duke added, “But 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 maintained that the ruling party could benefit from a fragmented opposition because Nigeria’s presidential election does not require a candidate to secure more than 50 per cent of the total votes cast, provided the constitutional requirements for victory are met.
“It does not require majority of the votes cast. 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 a spread. Having achieved that spread, all they’re looking for is a simple majority and a simple majority doesn’t have to be over 50%. No, it could be 30%.”
The Former Cross River State Governor stressed that opposition unity should not be driven solely by the desire to remove President Bola Tinubu from office but by an agreement on the country’s future direction and the candidate best equipped to deliver it.
“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?” he asked.
Duke urged opposition leaders to set aside personal ambitions, arguing that the country’s interests should take precedence over individual political calculations.
“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,” he said.
He added that he was willing to support another opposition candidate if such a candidate emerged from a credible process based on a shared national agenda.
“I don’t have to be president,” Duke declared.
He warned that repeating the political divisions of 2023 in the next election would produce similar results, insisting that opposition parties must agree on a common direction, identify the most suitable candidate and work together to defeat the ruling party.
“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.
