You May Not Find Any Politician In My Cabinet If I’m Elected President – Donald Duke

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Donald Duke, has said he may appoint no politician to his cabinet if elected president in the 2027 general election.

Naija News reports that the former governor of Cross River State, explained that his priority would be to bring capable and experienced people into government instead of giving political appointments to individuals as compensation for their support during the election.

He made this known during an interview in Abuja.

According to him, Nigeria is facing several challenges that require a government focused on competence, good performance and the ability to deliver results rather than political interests.

He said: “If I am going to pick a cabinet, you may not find any politician in that cabinet.

“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.

“My first election in Cross River was really tough. I was basically introducing myself to the people, and there were politicians running around everywhere. But by my second election, I hardly needed to go to rallies. You could feel the mood. People would tell me, ‘Don’t worry yourself; you have proved your mettle.’

“When you prove your mettle, much of the politics disappears. People trust you because they have seen what you can do. When you are contesting for the first time, people hold on to your words because that is what you offered them. But when you are seeking a second term, they should hold on to your work. Your work should speak for you.

“At that point, you shouldn’t have to spend your time telling people what you did. They should know. Your work becomes your campaign.

“The constitution tells you who is eligible. It tells you the age requirement and says you must not have certain criminal convictions and so on. But where is the section dealing with suitability? We need to sit down and design a suitability matrix. Leadership should not be a free-for-all where everybody enters and the most popular person wins, even when that person does not know where he is taking the country.

“If you want to win a Premier League match, you put out your best eleven. That is what I am trying to put on the table. This is not a popularity contest. You don’t substitute your future for a popular candidate. You look for who is best equipped to do the job.

“Am I the best candidate? I cannot say that. The voters will decide who the best is. But I want to put another option on the table because the options we have had have been too narrow and have not adequately addressed the issues.

“The ultimate function of government is to enhance the productivity of the people. Education becomes critical because people need the skills to be productive. Health is critical because they must be healthy enough to use those skills. Justice is fundamental because you cannot have peace without justice. And security, of course, is indispensable. The problem today is that everything has become urgent.

“The Nigerian elite is selfish and self-centred. He thinks that by looking after himself and his immediate family, he is safe. But he is not. Enlightened self-interest should make us look beyond ourselves and consider the wider community.

“If you want to be the richest man in the community, that is fine. But make sure the other members of that community are not so poor that your wealth itself makes you a target.

“You see successful Nigerians moving around their own country with security and sirens. This is your country. This is your home. Why should you live in fear in your own home and not realise that something is fundamentally wrong?”