The Peoples Redemption Party presidential candidate, Donald Duke, has said Nigerians were economically better off in 1999 than they are today, despite more than two decades of uninterrupted democratic rule.
Duke, a former governor of Cross River State, made the assertion during an interview on the Policy Without Politics podcast.
Nigeria returned to democratic rule in 1999 after years of military administration, with former President Olusegun Obasanjo succeeding the then Head of State, Abdulsalami Abubakar.
However, Duke argued that the country had failed to achieve meaningful economic growth despite an increase in population and significant rises in nominal budget figures.
“We’re really not in a democracy. It’s a facade. And with each cycle, we get poorer,” he said.
“I can say to you very clearly that in 1999, the people were better off than they are today, in 2026. They were much better off. The country was more affordable.”
Duke also compared Nigeria’s current fiscal position with that of the administration of the late former President Shehu Shagari in the early 1980s.
According to him, Nigeria’s annual budget during that period averaged about $25bn when the country’s population was approximately 70 million.
“Today, our population is anywhere between 200 and 250 million. We don’t know. But our budget is still hovering around $25 billion,” he said.
“We call it trillions because of the devaluation and all that. At that time, the naira was N1 to $1. Today, it’s around N1,400 to a dollar. So, we have not grown.”
Duke links insecurity to economic hardship
The PRP candidate also linked Nigeria’s security challenges to economic hardship, arguing that insurgency, banditry and kidnapping were largely driven by economic conditions.
“Boko Haram, they are not religious fanatics. They’re just economic banditry. Then you have the bandits and the kidnappers,” Duke said.
He maintained that the primary responsibility of government should be to create an environment where citizens can be productive while living in safety.
“The essence of having a government in place is to ensure the optimal productivity of citizens within a safe and orderly environment,” he said.
Duke also criticised the emphasis placed on foreign reserves as a measure of economic performance, arguing that employment and productivity offered more meaningful indicators of the country’s progress.
“Let’s stop measuring the progress of our economy by the amount of dollars or foreign currency we have in our reserves because that only means that you want to import more things all the time,” he said.
“Let’s measure the value of our economy by the number of people who are working.”
He added that government policies, particularly in education, should be designed to improve the productivity and economic contribution of citizens.
“Everything, whether it’s schooling, education or whatever you are doing, should be geared towards the productivity of our citizens. I think that is the kernel of government,” Duke said.
