Tinubu is Trapped in Villa Bubble – Donald Duke

Former Cross River State Governor and Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) presidential candidate, Donald Duke, has said President Bola Tinubu is disconnected from the realities facing ordinary Nigerians and is trapped in what he described as the “villa bubble”. 

Duke made the remarks during an exclusive interview with News Central’s Managing Director, Kayode Akintemi, on the programme 60 Minutes with Mr Kay, where he discussed his relationship with Tinubu and his assessment of the president’s leadership.

Duke, who confirmed that Tinubu was his friend, said two meetings with the president had left him with the impression that he was surrounded by people who reinforced his own view of the country rather than exposing him to the difficulties citizens face.

He described the situation as the “villa bubble”, arguing that life in government made it difficult for leaders to understand the everyday struggles of ordinary people.

“On two occasions, we met- a class of ’99 -and it was generally a monologue, you know, telling you all the wonderful things he is doing,” Duke said.

“You could find that he’s now gone into the villa bubble, that’s what we call it, when you get into the villa, you’re in this bubble, and you hear only what you want to hear, and so he was extolling the economy that it’s doing so well, things are going so well.”

He recalled Tinubu praising the performance of the Central Bank governor during one of their meetings, saying the president’s assessment appeared disconnected from the economic situation outside the Presidential Villa.

“In fact, let me quote him, he said, the governor of the Central Bank was doing a yeoman’s job, and I’m like, where is this guy coming from?” Duke said.

He added that the privileges attached to political office could prevent leaders from understanding the cost of living and the daily experiences of citizens.

“When you’re in government house, and I’ve been there before, you eat free, you move around free, you don’t even know the price of bread outside, you don’t know anything,” he said.

“You need to go out of your bubble to find out how people live, and he’s been captured by that.”

Asked what he believed Tinubu had done, Duke said the administration had shown early signs that it was more concerned with the interests of a few people than those of the wider population.

“You could see that very early in the day, it wasn’t a government for Nigeria, it was a government for a few,” he said.

Duke also criticised what he described as excessive spending by the administration, citing the purchase of a new presidential jet and yacht, as well as the president’s medical trips abroad.

He questioned why Tinubu continued to seek medical treatment overseas despite the construction of an eight-room hospital at the Presidential Villa under the late President Muhammadu Buhari.

“You buy a new jet for yourself, you buy a yacht, you start making spurious expenditures, you do things that you yourself criticise other governments for, but you think it’s different on your side,” he said.

“You go for medicals abroad, where less than a year before you came into office, late President Buhari had built an eight-room hospital at the villa for 21 billion naira, just eight rooms. I mean, 21 billion naira will give you a hundred, you know, even more, but you still choose to go abroad.”

Duke described some of the administration’s spending decisions as “totally mind-boggling”, saying they convinced him that the government was not focused on serving the wider population.

“At that point, I knew this government was not here to serve the people,” he said.