Donald Duke, former Governor of Cross River state has indicated interest to contest the 2019 elections. The ex-Governor declared his interest at the third ‘Mike Omotosho Annual Lecture’ titled, “Millennial as Protagonists in Nation Building” which took place on January 14 in Abuja.
He said he will kick-start the process at the right time.
“I am entitled to run for the Presidency of this country. I am entitled to it. Only on right circumstances I will aspire for it. I don’t shy away from responsibility, once the circumstance is right, I will aspire for the highest office of this country. I have what it takes to be President of this country.” He added.
The former Governor also challenged the youths to fully participate in the electoral process by getting their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) and sensitise others ahead of 2019 general election.
He said:
“I hear young people say to me that why would they spend hours queuing and casting their votes when at the end, their votes won’t count. And I tell them that if their parents who conceived them never gave up on them considering the high mortality rate; why would they not take a chance in building this nation?
“We had young leadership at one stage or the other. Even in our first republic, besides the likes of Awolowo, Tafawa Balewa, M. T. Mbu was in his twenties when he became a minister.
“Gowon was 30 when he became the head of state. It comes back to the disaster therein because most of them didn’t have experience in governance, which led us into war. We need the combination of both. “What I think we should be doing, is to a have a government that is youth friendly to provide opportunities because we need to groom the next set of leadership.”
Mr. Duke while reiterating the activities of the present administration, said, there was disconnection between President Muhammadu Buhari and his cabinet members. He also noted that the failure of governance is due to the lack of consequences for erring leaders which has given room for incompetence
In his words: “The challenge we have today is the disconnect. That is the challenge of the governance today. Because if you speak with the folks in government, and I am been candid here.
I think we should stop to deceive ourselves here and stop all these political correctness. There is disconnecting between the president and even the ministers.”
