Nigeria Risks Another 1966-Style National Crisis If Opposition Fails To Challenge Tinubu, Donald Duke Warns
Nigeria Risks Another 1966-Style National Crisis If Opposition Fails To Challenge Tinubu, Donald Duke Warns
According to him, the inability of opposition parties to collectively challenge alleged abuses of state power could have serious consequences for the country’s democracy and national stability.
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Donald Duke, has warned that Nigeria could face another national crisis if the country’s political leadership fails to address growing political tensions and abuses of state power ahead of the 2027 general elections.Nigerian news analysis
Duke, who spoke at the party’s retreat in Abuja on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, drew parallels between the current political atmosphere and events leading to the 1966 crisis that culminated in the Nigerian Civil War.
He warned that the country’s political developments bore disturbing similarities to the circumstances that preceded the 1966 crisis, which he said claimed over three million lives.
According to him, the inability of opposition parties to collectively challenge alleged abuses of state power could have serious consequences for the country’s democracy and national stability.
“The events then and today, sixty years thereafter, are frighteningly similar, you then begin to wonder if those events and lives lost then mean anything to us today,” Duke said.
He argued that the 1966 crisis could have been avoided if opposition parties had come together to challenge the excesses of those in power.
“For if, as things were cascading down in 1966, the opposition had come together not necessarily to unite, but rather to draw the lines and curb the excesses of state power abuse, the crippled ill-conceived military intervention which culminated in a civil war would have been avoided,” he said.
The former Cross River State governor also accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of undermining democratic principles through what he described as attempts to weaken opposition parties.
He alleged that the government had deployed state institutions, including the courts, to restrict opposition activities and limit their ability to participate freely in the electoral process.
“We have witnessed the unabashed attempts to whittle the opposition by the party in government, using and abusing several instruments of state power, such as the courts, restrictions to campaign and rally venues, advertising rights and outright thuggery in some instances,” Duke said.
He further alleged that the judiciary had been compromised and that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had failed to demonstrate the independence and impartiality required of an electoral umpire.
“Unfortunately, the instrument of justice through the courts has been so compromised and captured by the state, such that the outcome of any matter that involves the government can be forecasted well in advance and it is certainly not going to be in favour of the party not in government,” he said.
Duke also raised concerns over what he described as the revelation of more than 10 million artificial intelligence-registered voters, warning that the development could undermine the credibility of the 2027 general elections.
“The recent revelation of over ten million artificial intelligent registered voters is a frightening revelation, even more lethal than the postponement of the presidential elections a few hours to voting under the Yakubu led INEC in 2019,” he said.
He maintained that opposition parties should not assume that the 2027 elections would be conducted under a free and fair environment, urging them to develop strategies to confront the challenges.
“What should be clear to us all, the players and the electorate, is that we would be foolish to expect a free and fair electoral process, what some may term a level playing field,” Duke stated.
Beyond electoral concerns, the PRP presidential candidate criticised the economic situation in the country, arguing that the hardship experienced by Nigerians should not be presented as evidence of successful reforms.
He listed hunger, poverty, higher taxes, a depreciated naira, increased electricity costs, rising transport fares, low purchasing power and nationwide insecurity among the challenges confronting Nigerians.
“Never has hunger, poverty, higher taxes, a depreciated naira, higher electricity costs, constant borrowings, low purchasing power, higher transport cost, fusion of three annual budgets into one budgetary cycle and nationwide insecurity been a euphemism for reform,” he said.
“It is only in Nigeria that hardship is termed reform.”
Duke also accused the administration of using what he described as deceit and falsehood as instruments of governance.
“Today, we have a government of deceit, where lies and falsehood has become an instrument of governance,” he said.
He called on opposition parties to work together to protect democratic institutions and ensure that the electoral process produces a government that reflects the will of Nigerians.
According to him, the opposition must avoid conventional political approaches when dealing with what he described as an administration unwilling to operate within conventional democratic rules.
“David did not defeat Goliath in a wrestling bout, but by strategy and unconventional means,” he said.
At the retreat, the National Chairman of the PRP also alleged that opposition parties would face a hostile political environment ahead of the 2027 elections, accusing incumbent politicians of using financial inducements to influence voters and restrict political competition.
“We will be competing in very hostile environments where incumbents fear change, while we champion it. We will find resistance from politicians who bribe our people for our future, while we ask for trust and the courage to choose quality and integrity,” the National Chairman said.
He further alleged that politicians used public resources to mobilise crowds, contrasting such practices with the PRP’s proposed approach to political engagement.
“While they rent crowds with hundreds of billions of Naira made from corruption, we will engage citizens with respect and sincerity. We should say, together with Nigerians, in a loud voice: ‘Nigeria and Nigerians are not for sale’!” he said.
The National Chairman also disclosed that the party intends to introduce a “Compact with Constituents and Nigerians”, which would require its candidates to make specific commitments to voters and pledge to uphold accountability, integrity and competent leadership if elected.
He said the party would release copies of the compact to the media and send its candidates back to their respective communities to discuss the needs of voters, make further commitments on accountability and remain accessible to their constituents.
The PRP National Chairman said the party had more than 500 candidates across different levels of government and insisted that it was entering the 2027 elections to win rather than merely participate.
