Duke Seeks Financial System Overhaul, Faults High Interest Rates, Rising Debt

Presidential candidate of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP) in the 2027 general election, Donald Duke, has called for a comprehensive overhaul of Nigeria’s financial architecture, warning that high interest rates, rising public debt and misplaced government spending are undermining businesses and constraining economic growth.

Duke, a former governor of Cross River State, said Nigeria urgently needed bold economic reforms focused on affordable credit, disciplined public spending, energy security and institutional efficiency to stimulate productivity and restore investor confidence.

Speaking during an interview with Journalists  on Sunday  in Abuja , the PRP presidential candidate argued that prevailing lending rates had made meaningful economic expansion increasingly difficult for businesses, stressing that no economy could achieve sustainable growth when the cost of borrowing remained excessively high.

He said his administration, if elected in 2027, would redesign the country’s financial system to make it more supportive of production and investment.

According to him, “with interest rates in the upper 30s, you are undermining the economy. You cannot grow an economy with borrowing costs at that level.

Affordable loans promote growth, while inflation in our case is largely driven by the high cost of government and poor economic management.”

Duke also criticised what he described as misplaced government spending priorities, calling for a shift in public expenditure towards sectors capable of driving productivity, improving citizens’ welfare and generating sustainable economic growth.

He identified electricity, healthcare, education and the judiciary as areas requiring greater government investment, arguing that strengthening the sectors would improve…