Cabinent: I Will Prioritise Competence Over Political Rewards – Duke

Presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Donald Duke, has said he may exclude politicians from his cabinet if elected president in 2027.

He said that Nigeria needs competence rather than political compensation.

Duke, a former governor of Cross River State, stated this known during an interview in Abuja yesterday.

He argued that government appointments should be based on ability to deliver rather than political loyalty.

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

Duke argued that appointing politicians often shifts government attention towards the next election instead of delivering results.

“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.

Duke, who governed Cross River State from 1999 to 2007, said his achievements made his second-term re-election campaign easier, as voters could judge him by his performance.

He also called for a suitability framework to assess political aspirants beyond constitutional eligibility requirements.

“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,” he said.

Using football as an analogy, Duke urged Nigerians to prioritise competence over popularity in choosing their next president.

“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,” he added.

He identified education, healthcare, justice and security as critical priorities, while criticising the elite for neglecting the wider society in pursuit of personal comfort.