Presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party, PRP, Donald Duke has described opposition parties endorsing President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid as a repeat of the Abacha-era political arrangement.
Duke, a former governor of Cross River State, made the remark during an interview on ARISE TV on Thursday.
He said the current alignment of opposition figures with the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, is reminiscent of the five political parties that adopted late military ruler, General Sani Abacha as their consensus presidential candidate in 1998.
“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 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 dropped off,” Duke said.
The phrase “five leprous fingers” was popularized by the late Chief Bola Ige to describe the five parties registered under Abacha’s transition programme – the United Nigeria Congress Party, UNCP, National Centre Party of Nigeria, NCPN, Grassroots Democratic Movement, GDM, Democratic Party of Nigeria, DPN, and Committee for National Consensus, CNC.
All five parties in 1998 adopted Abacha as their sole presidential candidate in a move widely condemned as an attempt to legitimize his continuation in power. Abacha died on June 8, 1998, before the election, and his successor, General Abdulsalami Abubakar dissolved the parties and organized the transition that ushered in the Fourth Republic in 1999.
Duke’s comment comes amid growing realignment ahead of 2027, with the APC openly wooing opposition governors and chieftains.
APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda had confirmed that the party approached Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, Osun Governor Ademola Adeleke and Anambra Governor Chukwuma Soludo to support Tinubu’s second term.
Yilwatda said Adeleke, now in Accord Party, and Soludo of APGA had agreed to work for Tinubu, while Wike, a PDP member, pledged support for the President in Rivers and the FCT.
The three were present at the inauguration of the APC Presidential Campaign Council in Abuja on Wednesday, where Adeleke argued that four years was not enough for Tinubu’s reforms to materialize, and Soludo declared APGA’s support for the President.
Duke’s warning has revived concerns over opposition unity. In 2023, the opposition went into the election divided, with Atiku Abubakar of the PDP and Peter Obi of the Labour Party running separately against Tinubu, a division many analysts believe handed victory to the APC.
