2027: Donald Duke offers to step down for consensus opposition candidate

Presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Donald Duke, has said he is willing to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race if opposition parties agree on a consensus candidate to challenge President Bola Tinubu.

Duke said he would respect a collective decision to support another contender, including former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar or Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), provided the choice emerged through a democratic process.

The former Cross River State governor made the position known on Tuesday, November 10, in Abuja, during the unveiling of the PRP’s vice-presidential candidate, Sule Mohammed, and the party’s manifesto.

Responding to a question on whether he would step aside for a stronger opposition candidate, Duke said a coalition should first establish a common vision for the country before deciding who should lead it.

“A coalition is not just about picking a presidential candidate. That’s the mistake we’re all making. It’s about us coming together to agree on where we would like to take our nation to,” he said.

Duke added that he would accept the outcome if opposition parties reached an agreement on the candidate considered best placed to lead the alliance.

“If the group, and so far there are quite a number of us, comes up with an agreement that this is the best person to lead the coalition, you can’t say you’re a Democrat and not be subject to the rules of democracy,” he said.

He added that he would expect other contenders to show the same willingness if he emerged as the preferred candidate.

Duke, however, cautioned against reducing opposition cooperation to the selection of a presidential candidate, saying the parties must agree on the direction in which they want to take Nigeria.

“We don’t want to replace the APC or the present administration with someone who would take us back again,” he said.

His comments come amid renewed efforts by opposition parties and political figures to build a common platform ahead of the 2027 general election, with discussions focusing on whether they can avoid splitting votes among multiple candidates.

The challenge is significant. In the 2023 presidential election, opposition candidates shared a substantial portion of the votes, while Tinubu emerged victorious with 8,794,726 votes. Atiku, who contested for the Peoples Democratic Party, polled 6,984,520, while Obi, then the Labour Party candidate, secured 6,101,533 votes.

Duke had previously warned that a divided opposition could give Tinubu an advantage in 2027. In an interview with Channels Television in August, he said the opposition needed to unite behind a common candidate if it hoped to defeat the incumbent.

He also argued that opposition parties should anticipate electoral challenges and prepare a coordinated strategy rather than wait until after the election to raise complaints.

At Tuesday’s event, Duke raised concerns about what he described as an uneven political environment, alleging that opposition parties faced difficulties securing venues and advertising spaces for their campaigns.

He claimed that APC campaign materials were more visible across several cities and said the cost of securing advertising space could place opposition parties at a disadvantage. The allegations were not independently established in the report.

PRP National Chairman, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, also expressed support for greater opposition cooperation but said the party would not dissolve its structure into another political party.

He said the PRP was considering options that could include supporting one or more opposition candidates capable of defeating the APC.

Baba-Ahmed maintained that the party intended to remain politically active and would not participate in the election merely to make up the numbers.

Duke’s latest position adds to the growing list of calls for opposition unity, but it does not amount to a formal withdrawal from the presidential race or an endorsement of either Atiku or Obi.

There are also unresolved political and legal questions surrounding the opposition negotiations. On November 5, a Federal High Court ruling set aside the process that produced Atiku’s nomination as the African Democratic Congress presidential candidate. The ADC rejected the ruling and said it would appeal.

For now, opposition parties have yet to announce a final agreement on a single presidential candidate. Whether aspirants will ultimately surrender their individual ambitions will depend on the terms of the negotiations, the selection process and the level of support for whoever emerges.

Duke’s position is that he is prepared to accept such an outcome, provided the opposition first agrees on a common programme for governing Nigeria.