Grill presidential aspirants on experience, capacity, record –Duke

Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) presidential candidate and former Cross River State governor, Donald Duke, has called for rigorous scrutiny of presidential aspirants’ experience, capacity and records, warning that Nigeria’s economic and security challenges have left no room for experimental leadership.

Duke said Nigerians should interrogate anyone seeking public office on their qualifications for the responsibility and what they intend to do differently, while insisting that the opposition must offer more than a determination to remove President Bola Tinubu.

“I don’t think we should be testing. We’re in such dire states right now. We should actually grill whoever wants to take any responsible position in the public space today.”

The former governor described the country’s condition as grave but maintained that its problems could be addressed with a change in direction.

“We’re already in a disaster. This is a disaster. But it’s repairable.”

Assessing the Tinubu administration, Duke acknowledged the President’s political experience but said his concern was whether that experience had translated into better governance and improved living conditions.

“He’s a formidable politician. My issue with him is governance, not politics.

“He’s been a senator, he’s been a two-time governor. Give it to him. He’s a formidable politician.”

Duke said rising poverty and worsening insecurity demanded a different approach, expressing concern that security challenges in the North were spreading southwards.

“If we continue this way, where year after year poverty increases, statistically, not our statistics, international statistics, year after year we’re getting poorer, year after year our security is impaired. I mean, look at what’s going on in the North. And it’s creeping southwards.

“There are sections of the country that are getting poorer faster than other sections of the country. You’ve got to mitigate that.

“And he’s not taking us in that direction.”

He rejected suggestions that his criticism amounted to a claim of personal superiority over Tinubu, saying the distinction concerned the governance structure he believed he could establish.

“No. I didn’t say I’m better. I didn’t say I’m better.

“I’ll put in place a better governance structure than Bola Tinubu. That’s my conviction.”

Duke said the opposition coalition must first agree on a programme for Nigeria before deciding who should lead it, warning that replacing the incumbent without a clear alternative would shortchange citizens.

“But we also have to have sincerity of purpose. It’s not just to remove one and put another face.

“The first thing is getting a commonality in objectives. Where do we want to take Nigeria to? Where do we think Nigeria ought to be at this time?

“Who best amongst the coalition partners can articulate that vision?”

He said an alliance built solely around dissatisfaction with the incumbent would fall short of what Nigerians needed.

“It shouldn’t be seen as a bunch of people trying to unseat a government or impose someone else. No, that would be wrong. And that would be shortchanging Nigerians.

“We must agree on where we ought to take Nigeria to and find a fitting vehicle to take us there.”

According to him, agreement on the destination should precede the choice of a candidate.

“First of all, once we have a commonality and objective, the next question is who is best suited for this?”

Duke, who governed Cross River State between 1999 and 2007, said his administration demonstrated that states could generate economic activity by developing their comparative advantages.

“We were young and boisterous and had a lot of energy. We wanted to prove a point that it could happen.

“We wanted to prove that every federating unit in this country could also be an economic unit.”

He said that ambition informed his administration’s focus on agriculture and tourism.

“So we took our strengths, right? Agriculture, we have incredible land mass.

“But beyond that, we took a low-hanging fruit like tourism, which everyone thought wouldn’t work. And it worked spectacularly.

“It can be done. That can-do spirit has been proven before.”

Duke argued that government’s central responsibility was to help citizens become productive within a secure environment, with expenditure on education, healthcare and infrastructure serving that purpose.

“The main essence, the main function of government is the optimal productivity of our citizens within a safe and orderly environment.

“I think that’s what the government is all about. Not just for people to administer or supervise over people, but to ensure that they are productive within a safe and orderly environment.”

He said governments should support legitimate economic activities capable of lifting citizens out of poverty, regardless of how modest those activities appeared.

“Once you have something that legitimately others want — and the word here is legitimately — then you’re productive.

“If by preparing Afang soup, we can get our people living a good life, not below the poverty level, go for it.”

Defending the Tinapa project initiated during his administration, Duke said its condition when he left office should be distinguished from its subsequent fortunes.

“To the extent that it was commissioned a month before I left office, it was successful.

“Going forward, I think the question should be addressed to those who took over from me.”

The post Grill presidential aspirants on experience, capacity, record –Duke appeared first on The Sun Nigeria.