A presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Donald Duke on Tuesday said that his ambition was not backed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.<\/p>\n
Duke, a former governor of Cross River, who recently declared his intention to run for the exalted office, told newsmen in Lagos that though he remained close to Obasanjo, his decision to run was personal.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am not hypocritical. I am close the former president but he is neither my sponsor nor backup. However, those who come up with these propaganda also go to get the ex-president\u2019s endorsement.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will not keep people aside because of what others think. I need everybody\u2019s support but I am running as Duke and nobody\u2019s stogie. I will be putting myself up to run. How it pans out is not what I can say\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet the people decide. Zoning is undemocratic. I am running as a Nigerian. Zoning has never brought out the best in us. It brings compromise,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
He, however, said that his candidature and final platform would be determined on what unfolds in the party.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are talks going on with other platforms. When these talks are concluded, then Nigeria will know my final stand. I remain a bona fide member of the PDP,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
Duke said that there was need for every Nigeria to get involved in governance in one form or another saying: \u201cThings don\u2019t just happen. Folks make it happen.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
On Tinapa Holiday Resort in Cross River which was his pet project, Duke lamented that it was neglected by subsequent governments.<\/p>\n
\u201cTinapa was completed. It would have been making trillions of Naira for the state if successive governments had continued with the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith continuity it would have been moving. Tinapa is just a metaphor for poor governance and problem of continuity in governance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe built Tinapa to drive development in Cross River. Continuing with such a project would have made the state less dependent of subvention,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Donald Duke on Tuesday said that his ambition was not backed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Duke, a former governor of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":27456,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[686],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Donald-Duke.jpg?fit=517%2C426&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":51572,"url":"https:\/\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/2019-im-running-for-president-donald-duke\/","url_meta":{"origin":51744,"position":0},"title":"2019: I\u2019m running for president \u2013 Donald Duke","author":"Igbokwe John","date":"June 11, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Another high-profile candidate has announced he wants to stand in next year\u2019s presidential election in Nigeria but held off declaring which party he would represent. Donald Duke, a former governor of Cross Rivers, according to him: \u201cI\u2019m running. I am sure many, many will join.\u201d Duke is a respected politician\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Donald Duke,","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Donald-Duke.jpg?fit=517%2C426&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":44876,"url":"https:\/\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/donald-duke-speaks-presidential-ambition-pdp-cnm\/","url_meta":{"origin":51744,"position":1},"title":"Donald Duke speaks on presidential ambition, PDP, CNM","author":"Reporter","date":"February 27, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A former governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke, on Tuesday said he has not backed down on his presidential ambition. Duke said the speculations that he had dumped the aspiration were untrue. Speaking with NAN, Duke explained that he has not officially declared for the number one seat in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Donald Duke, SDP, INEC, 2019 Presidential Polls,","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/donald-duke-1.jpg?fit=410%2C305&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":59265,"url":"https:\/\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/donald-duke-leaves-pdp-set-to-pick-presidency-ticket-under-sdp\/","url_meta":{"origin":51744,"position":2},"title":"Donald Duke leaves PDP, set to pick presidency ticket under SDP","author":"Reporter","date":"September 4, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A former governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke, on Tuesday disclosed that he would run for the 2019 presidency under the platform of the Social Democratic Party, SDP. \u00a0 Duke, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, announced his decision at SDP\u2019s national secretariat in Abuja, where he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Donald Duke, SDP, INEC, 2019 Presidential Polls,","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/donald-duke-1.jpg?fit=410%2C305&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":27455,"url":"https:\/\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/cross-river-ex-governor-donald-duke-declares-presidential-ambitions\/","url_meta":{"origin":51744,"position":3},"title":"Cross River Ex-governor, Donald Duke Declares Presidential Ambitions","author":"Arinze Ago","date":"July 10, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A former governor of Cross Rivers State, Donald Duke, has indicated interest to become Nigeria\u2019s number one citizen. Duke, 55, said he would still take a shot at the presidency, if the opportunity presented itself. The former governor of Cross River State spoke at a programme,\u00a0\u201cThe Nigerian Symposium for Emerging\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Donald Duke,","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Donald-Duke.jpg?fit=517%2C426&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":64072,"url":"https:\/\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/2019-general-election-pdp-will-not-allow-its-presidential-candidate-perform-well-donald-duke\/","url_meta":{"origin":51744,"position":4},"title":"2019 General Election: PDP Will Not Allow Its Presidential Candidate Perform Well – Donald Duke","author":"Damilare Salami","date":"November 22, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The Presidential Candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Mr Donald Duke, says the PDP \u201cbaggage\u201d will not allow for good performance if its candidate emerges as President in 2019. Duke while speaking with Journalists on Thursday in Lagos said that no matter how good a candidate\u2019s intentions are, the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Donald Duke, SDP, INEC, 2019 Presidential Polls,","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/donald-duke-1.jpg?fit=410%2C305&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":59623,"url":"https:\/\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/why-i-dumped-pdp-donald-duke\/","url_meta":{"origin":51744,"position":5},"title":"Why I dumped PDP \u2013 Donald Duke","author":"Reporter","date":"September 7, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Former Cross River State governor, Donald Duke, on Friday said he joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP) to run for the office of president in the 2019 election because his former party, the Peoples Democratic Party, had \u201cunconstitutionally\u201d zoned political offices. \u00a0 In a series of tweets, Mr Duke, who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Donald Duke, SDP, INEC, 2019 Presidential Polls,","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/donald-duke-1.jpg?fit=410%2C305&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51744"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51744"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51751,"href":"https:\/\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51744\/revisions\/51751"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}