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…Says every federating unit should also be an economic unit
Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) presidential candidate and former Cross River state governor, Donald Duke, has called for a review of Nigeria’s constitutional requirements for electing a President, arguing that the existing arrangement can produce a government without the support of a majority of voters.
Duke said Nigeria also needed to rethink the structure of its party politics and philosophy of governance, contending that the presidential system functions better with two strong political blocs while governments should be judged principally by their ability to make citizens and constituent states productive.
“This is why we really need to revisit the constitution, because those who put it together probably didn’t understand these fundamentals,” he said.
Duke in an interview Tuesday argued that Nigeria had not sufficiently appreciated the difference between the presidential and parliamentary systems and the implications for political competition.
“Those of us in the democratic space in Nigeria today really don’t understand how it works.
“There are different ways of expressing yourselves democratically. But for the system we run, the presidential, the avenue towards success is different from that of Westminster, for instance.
“The Westminster system, you can have several parties. The ability to form government is, if you’re a minority, if you don’t have all the required number of seats in parliament, you can cobble together an opposition.
“The presidential is different.”
According to him, fragmentation of the opposition gives an incumbent considerable advantage because Nigeria does not require the eventual winner to secure an absolute majority of all valid votes cast.
“The important thing is that if you want a proper presidential system of government, you ought to have only two major parties, right? An incumbent and an opposition.
“Once you, like I said, balkanise or fractionise the opposition, you will lose your ball. The incumbent will always have it.”
He cited the 2023 presidential election, saying: “It will still be a minority government. It won’t get the majority of the votes cast on election day. Last time we had about 36–37 per cent.
“So that scenario may replay itself. It may even be less. It may get maybe 25 and all that. But because they are fractured, all you would strive to do is get 25 per cent in two-thirds of the states and a simple majority.
“It doesn’t need to get eight million votes. It could just get 10 votes more, five votes more than every other person.
“And that is one of the faults with the electoral system. It’s not designed for a presidential system.”
Under Section 134 of the Constitution, where there are more than two presidential candidates, the winner must score the highest number of votes cast nationally and meet the prescribed geographical spread. The provision does not require the winner to secure more than 50 per cent of all valid votes.
Duke said the proliferation of political parties was compounded by the absence of clearly defined ideological differences among them.
“We don’t have any ideological stance in our politics. They’re just platforms. We have not developed to the point where we stand for certain ideologies.
“So these platforms are not ideologically based. And that’s why you have people swarming back and forth.”
He recalled the SDP/NRC experiment of the aborted Third Republic, saying there was “some philosophical correctness” in having two broad political blocs, although he faulted the military government’s role in creating the parties.
“Normally, parties form governments. But in this case, the government formed the party.”
Duke said beyond restructuring electoral competition, Nigeria needed a different conception of what government itself exists to accomplish.
“What I find, the synergy I find with PRP, is it articulates something I always believed in — that 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 education, healthcare and infrastructure should consequently be treated as investments in people’s productive capacity.
“That’s why we send kids to school. That’s why we send them to hospitals. We build infrastructure. All towards the productivity of our citizens.
“That is the mission statement of the government. It changes the way we see the dynamics of government.”
Duke said the same philosophy should apply to Nigeria’s 36 states, arguing that each should exploit its comparative advantages and develop an economy rather than function principally as an administrative unit.
Recalling his tenure as Cross River governor between 1999 and 2007, he said: “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.
“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.”
For Duke, the test should be whether an activity legitimately generates value and lifts citizens above poverty.
“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.”
“Tinapa was one thing that we built in Cross River. It was a dream. To the extent that it was commissioned a month before I left office, it was successful.”
Duke maintained that electoral reform, viable political competition and economic productivity should ultimately converge on one objective — improving the condition of citizens.
“Government is to ensure that they are productive within a safe and orderly environment,” he said.
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