2027: If elected, there may be no politician in my cabinet – Duke

*Says Nigeria needs best hands, not political compensation Peoples Redemption Party, PRP, presidential candidate, Donald Duke, has given an indication of the kind of government he would run if elected president in 2027. He said in an interview in Abuja yesterday that his cabinet might contain no politician if that was what it took to assemble Nigeria’s best hands. Duke, who was former governor of Cross Rive State, said the depth of the country’s problems demanded a government organised around competence and delivery rather than political accommodation, patronage or calculations about another election. “If I am going to pick a cabinet, you may not find any politician in that cabinet,” he said.

He added that the 2027 election should be less about personalities and political structures and more about what each aspirant proposes to do about Nigeria’s economy, insecurity, unemployment, education, healthcare and justice system. Duke said he was prepared to put competence ahead of the political considerations that often influence cabinet formation because an administration preoccupied with rewarding politicians could quickly become consumed by the next election. “I’m going for broke. When you start putting politicians in your cabinet, you are looking at the next election. You are thinking about the people who will support you. For me, I want the people to support me. If you perform, the people will support you,” he said. He drew on his experience governing Cross River state between 1999 and 2007 and argued that performance could itself become a politician’s strongest campaign organisation. He said his first governorship election required strenuous political mobilisation because he was introducing himself to the electorate. But by the time he sought a second term, his record…