2027: Donald Duke better than all presidential candidates out there — Baba-Ahmed

The National Chairman of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP), Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, says the party’s presidential candidate, Donald Duke, is the best contender in the field ahead of the 2027 general election, even as he admitted that candidate quality alone would not be enough to secure victory at the polls.

Baba-Ahmed spoke in an interview with Arise News on Wednesday.

“Candidate for candidate, we think we have the best. We’re very fortunate to have him. So, candidate for candidate, Donald Duke is better than all the candidates out there,” he said.

He added, however, that the PRP was not banking solely on Duke’s credentials to carry the party to victory, noting that this realism was driving the party’s active role in ongoing coalition talks ahead of the election.

“However, we’re realistic enough to know that just the quality of your candidate doesn’t just win the election, which is the reason why the PRP is in the frontline, right at the heart of this coalition building,” he said.

Baba-Ahmed explained that the PRP’s push for a broader alliance of parties was being guided by consensus and constitutional processes, rather than an attempt to force Duke’s candidacy through on the strength of his profile alone.

“We don’t want to prejudge or preempt anything by saying, ‘Because he’s the best, he has to be the candidate,’ by whatever means you come to do that. We want to build a coalition of parties that think the way we do,” he said.

He stressed that the stakes of the 2027 election went beyond party interests, framing it as a decisive moment for the country’s trajectory.

“Nigeria must, in the next four years, make a difference in the manner in which this country either develops or moves away from its fault lines, or just simply sinks into that. It really is that important,” Baba-Ahmed said.

The PRP chairman’s comments come amid intensifying coalition-building efforts among opposition parties ahead of the 2027 presidential race, with Duke positioned as one of the figures around whom such an alliance could potentially coalesce.