Nigerians were better off under military rule: Donald Duke makes explosive democracy assessment

Former Cross River State Governor and Peoples Redemption Party presidential candidate Donald Duke has made a striking assertion that Nigerians were better off under military rule than under the current democratic system, arguing that 27 years of civilian governance since 1999 have failed to meaningfully improve the lives of ordinary citizens.

“The people were better off under the military. At least governance was not that expensive,” Duke said during a weekend interview.

According to Daily Post, the former governor said any honest assessment of Nigeria’s democratic experiment must be measured against actual citizen welfare and the concrete dividends democracy has delivered — implying that by that standard, the verdict was deeply unfavourable.

Duke is among the presidential candidates seeking to unseat President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general election.