Donald Duke, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), has warned that President Bola Tinubu could win re-election in 2027 if leading opposition figures fail to unite.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Morning Brief on Wednesday, Duke said a split opposition vote between Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi could reproduce the outcome of the 2023 election and hand Tinubu an advantage.
“We don’t understand what we’re doing. In the United States, which is the system we’ve largely copied, there are two major parties. If you fragment the Democrats, for instance, into two or three other parties, the Republicans will remain in office forever. That’s what we’re doing,” he said.
Duke argued that divisions among opposition candidates in 2023 scattered votes across several contenders. “In 2023, we fragmented. You had Atiku, Peter (then of Labour), and Kwankwaso — they fragmented,” he said.
The former Cross River State governor blamed the difficulty of forming a united opposition partly on “large egos” among the leading contenders. He said many of them appear confident they will win in 2027 but warned that such confidence may be misplaced without unity.
“These big ones you’re talking about, they’re preparing for inauguration. They think they’re going to win. I have news for them. They’re not going anywhere,” he said.
Asked directly whether his prediction meant Tinubu would win in 2027, Duke replied, “Absolutely.”
