He said Nigerian public office holders tend to treat their positions like personal possessions.
Presidential aspirant, Donald Duke, has expressed his discontent with the culture of immaturity in the execution of Nigeria's democracy, noting that it is holding the country back.
The former Cross River State governor said this during an interview on Pulse Nigeria's Loose Talk Podcast on Friday, July 13, 2018.
While speaking about the internal politics of Nigeria's political parties, he said the parties are set up as mere platforms to contest without any ideological identity to anchor their actions.
He further remarked that Nigerian public office holders execute the duties of their office as if it is their own possession and neglect to act for the sake of common good, leading to a disjointed system of governance.
He said, "The thing is Nigerian politics is still not as democratic as it ought to be. Some folks get angry that you want to be president. It ought not be that way. It's your constitutional right to aspire.
"For instance in the APC if you get you get up today and say you want to run for presidency, you're persona non grata immediately. It shouldn't be that way. It's a very immature democracy.
"We appropriate offices; so if I'm governor, that is my own and anyone who aspires is trying to steal (it from me). And you can see it in many ways.
"When Umaru (Yar'Adua) was ill and in the hospital, the country literally came to a standstill. From his hospital bed, he was asked to sign that budget. Constitutionally, the vice presidency is supposed to be a seamless system.
"It's also why we have a checkered system of governance where there is no continuity because when you go, the next person comes and says, 'Let me just start my own'. It's immaturity, a lot of it in the system."
Donald Duke's party remains unknown
Duke is yet to disclose on which political platform he'll run for president next year, but he served as Cross River State governor between 1999 and 2007 and tried to run for president in 2007 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
However, since the PDP has officially zoned its presidential ticket to the north, Duke is most likely to contest on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) which is the political party that has been adopted by the Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM) of which he is a founding member.
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If he wins his party's primary election, he'll face stiff competition from others like incumbent, President Muhammadu Buhari; former vice president, Atiku Abubakar; former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Kingsley Moghalu; management consultant and leadership expert, Fela Durotoye; Sahara Reporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore and a host of others.