NIGERIA: Former Cross River State Governor and Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) presidential candidate, Donald Duke, has likened opposition parties supporting President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid to political parties that backed the transition programme of the late military ruler, General Sani Abacha.
Duke made the comparison during an interview on ARISE News on Thursday, criticising opposition parties that have pledged support for Tinubu despite belonging to different political platforms.
Recalling the controversial political arrangement under Abacha’s military regime in the 1990s, Duke said the current alignment reminded him of the expression “five leprous fingers”, which was used to describe the political parties registered under the former military ruler’s transition programme.
“Before I go into that, you know, you talked about the opposition, some of the opposition parties supporting the president. It was reminiscent of what happened in, uh, Abacha’s transition.
“You know the five leper’s fingers? Yes. So you now have four leper’s fingers because one of the fingers has been — has dropped off,” he said.
The expression was coined by the late Chief Bola Ige, a former Oyo State governor and prominent opposition figure, to condemn the five political parties established under Abacha’s transition programme, reports The PUNCH.
The parties were the United Nigeria Congress Party, National Centre Party of Nigeria, Grassroots Democratic Movement, Democratic Party of Nigeria and Committee for National Consensus.
In 1998, the five parties adopted Abacha as their sole presidential candidate, a decision widely criticised as an attempt to extend military rule under the guise of a transition to civilian government.
However, Abacha died on June 8, 1998, before the plan could be completed. His successor, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, subsequently dissolved the parties and introduced a fresh transition programme that culminated in Nigeria’s return to civilian rule in 1999.
Duke’s remarks come amid political realignments ahead of the 2027 general elections, with opposition parties and political figures divided over how best to challenge Tinubu’s re-election bid.
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nentawe Yilwatda, had confirmed that the ruling party approached opposition figures, including Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike; Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke; and Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, to support Tinubu’s second-term ambition.
Yilwatda said Adeleke, who belongs to the Accord Party, and Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) had agreed to work for Tinubu’s re-election.
He also disclosed that Wike, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had pledged to support the President in Rivers State and the FCT.
The APC subsequently inaugurated its Presidential Campaign Council for the 2027 election, expressing confidence in Tinubu’s record and ongoing reforms.
At the inauguration in Abuja on Wednesday, Adeleke argued that four years would be insufficient for Tinubu’s reforms to produce their intended results, while Soludo declared his party’s support for the President’s re-election.
Wike also pledged to deliver votes for Tinubu in Rivers State and the FCT, despite retaining his PDP affiliation.
The endorsements have drawn attention to the growing political alignments ahead of the election, as the APC seeks to consolidate support beyond its membership.
The debate has also revived concerns about opposition disunity, particularly following the 2023 presidential election, when opposition candidates, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, contested separately against Tinubu.
Tinubu, who ran on the APC platform, won the election, while Atiku contested under the PDP and Obi represented the Labour Party.
Since then, calls for opposition parties to unite ahead of the 2027 election have featured prominently in political discussions, with advocates of a coalition arguing that a common candidate could strengthen their challenge to the ruling party.
Duke’s comparison has added another dimension to the debate over whether opposition figures supporting Tinubu can maintain their identities as opposition politicians while campaigning for the President’s re-election.
