The presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party, (PRP), Donald Duke, has said Nigeria must localise its security architecture to effectively address the country’s worsening insecurity, arguing that state policing, intelligence gathering and greater accountability within the security system are critical to tackling violent crime and protecting communities.
He said this while speaking in an exclusive interview with ARISE NEWS on Wednesday.
“Anything that is essential has to be local. For instance, one of the pitfalls of electricity in our country is that we have not localized it. Healthcare and schools have to be local to be effective. Water—you can’t produce water in Calabar and move it to Sokoto; you’ve got to find water within the locality. The same thing with security: you’ve got to localize it,” he stated.
Adding, Duke said: “Even with the military, you’ve got to establish—I hear they’ve increased the number of divisions to 12—I would even go further than that. That is one. Two: policing. Yes, we talk about state policing, and I agree with it. I think we ought to have done this a long time ago.”
Addressing concerns that state police could be abused by governors, Duke argued that a strong and independent judiciary would serve as the necessary check against excesses, insisting that judicial reform must go hand in hand with the decentralisation of policing.
“That’s why you need a judicial system that works so that it can curb the excesses. You can’t do one without the other,” he insisted.
Speaking on how insecurity has contributed to the decline in agricultural productivity, Duke said government’s primary responsibility is to provide a safe and orderly environment that enables citizens to work, farm and move freely across the country without fear. He lamented the deterioration in national security, arguing that Nigerians can no longer travel freely across the country as they once could.
“The basic function of government is to ensure the productivity of its citizens within a safe and orderly environment. That sums it all up. We’ve got to take security seriously. You must be able to move through the length and breadth of this country without harassment.
“Today, you dare not do that travel to Zaria and arrive late. You want to arrive in Zaria at the peak of the sun; you don’t even want to get there at dusk. Nigeria is not getting better; Nigeria is getting worse. We’ve got to be honest with ourselves,” he stressed.
Blaming the persistence of corruption in the country on a lack of consequences for wrongdoing, Duke argued that enforcing accountability across all levels of government would significantly reduce corrupt practices.
“Failure of consequences. The lack of consequences causes you to dare.There are no consequences. The moment you instill consequences into your governance system, yes, there will still be corruption, but it will be severely mitigated,” he said.
Turning to the political culture in Nigeria, Duke acknowledged that elections have become increasingly driven by money and political structures rather than ideas, arguing that vote-buying and patronage have undermined issue-based campaigns and weakened the country’s democracy.
“Unfortunately, yes. Nigeria has become a country where elections are won less by ideas than by structures.The money, which ought to be for logistics to sell ideas, is used differently. Nobody talks about ideas. On election day, 10,000 to 15,000 naira is given to voters. Where are we going?
“We are unfortunately running a system where your ideas don’t mean anything. Put together what we call ‘structures’ that are able to distribute funds across the country, and you win,” he lamented.
Responding to questions on how he intends to overcome the dominance of the ruling party as a third-force candidate, Duke acknowledged the challenge but insisted he would press on with his presidential ambition, saying Nigerians must continue striving for change and work together to rescue the country.
“If I don’t try, I’ve lost. There are famous words by Jesse Jackson in 1984 when he was asked by a reporter, ‘Mr. Jackson, what makes you think you can win?” He said, “If I run, I might lose. If I don’t run, I am guaranteed to lose.’ Whatever effort you can make—and attract like minds to come together to save this country—we ought to do it. It is a Herculean task; I have no illusions about it. But we must keep on trying. As long as there is life in us, we must keep on trying.l,” he insisted.
On whether he would step aside for another opposition candidate, the PRP presidential candidate said he would like to remain in the presidential race until the end, while urging opposition parties to set aside personal ambitions and unite behind their shared objective of addressing Nigeria’s challenges.
“I would like to be in the race to the finish. But regardless of what party you are in, as long as you are not in the APC, you are the opposition. We need to talk. We need to let the egos come down. We have a common objective. That is why, in some climates, they have a government of national unity. They need to put the opposition together broadly to tackle this country, because no single individual—no matter how smart you think you are—can get it right alone. We all have to put our efforts together,” he urged.
Commenting on divisions within the opposition, Duke blamed the lack of unity on competing interests and urged opposition figures to prioritise their common goal of challenging the ruling party, warning that fragmentation could weaken their chances.
“The problem with the opposition is huge egos. They need a voice of reason within their ranks, and I want to be that voice of reason to talk to them: ‘Guys, look, our common objective is unseating the APC. You’re not going to do it with a fractured opposition.’ We saw it happen in 2023, and we are repeating it again. It means that something is wrong with our senses; we are not thinking straight.”
Expressing confidence that the legal challenge to his emergence as the PRP presidential candidate would not affect his ambition, Duke described the case as a distraction and said he has the backing of his party.
“As a lawyer, I can look at a case and decipher its merits. It is spurious. The guy says I wasn’t a member of the party, but the party says I am a member. Even the courts have ruled on that. So, I’m not worried about him; he is a distraction. Maybe he is trying to let his ego down slowly. I’ve reached out to him, but he rebuffed it. However, I’m not going to stop what I’m doing because someone is litigating. It has become a culture in Nigeria: the moment you lose an election, you go to the courts, and the courts entertain this nonsense and drag it on. I am confident in the case we have, I have the party behind me, and the grounds for going to court are silly, to put it lightly,” he maintained.
Attributing the shortcomings of Nigerian leadership since 1999 to selfishness and self-centredness, Duke argued that leaders must prioritise national interests over personal ambitions and work towards a common objective.
“Selfishness and self-centeredness. People have found their way into power, and it becomes about personal aggrandizement—not just monetary, but ‘me, myself, and I.’ That is the problem with the opposition as well. We can’t all be president. We all have to look at the objective: where do we want to take our country? Once we find that commonality, we should come together. But it’s all ego. And if you’re the governing party, you’re going to take advantage of that. So really, that’s the problem,” Duke insisted.
Speaking directly to the Nigerian people, the presidential candidate cited his record in public office, emphasising that voters should assess candidates based on their past achievements, experience and proven ability to deliver results.
“I have a track record. I took a state that was barely on the map, along with some others—I hate saying I did it on my own; I led a carefully selected team—and a lot of what I’ve said to you, I put to work, and it worked.
“You’ve got to look at the track record of those who put themselves forward. What did they do in the past? Because if you don’t, you’re going to be experimenting on this fellow, no matter how eloquent he or she may be.
“What did you do in the past? If you were in the private sector, how successful were you? If you were in the public sector and held public office before, what did you do? What are your tendencies? Do you have criminal records? All those things have to be looked at. So, that is what I am selling: the proven ability to get things done,” he concluded.
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