In this report, ABU NMODU and ACHOR ABIMAJE, capture the thrills and intrigues of the recent Presidential Campaign rallies of the All Progressives Congress (APC) led by President Muhammadu Buhari in Nigeria and Plateau States.
The large crowds that welcomed the APC presidential campaign train in Niger and Plateau States were instructive.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to both states to campaign came barely days after his main challenger, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, former vice president, Atiku Abubakar visited same states.
Buhari’s visits attracted so much crowd, amid allegations by the opposition that it was hired.
The Niger State Experience
When the Presidential campaign rally of the APC landed in Niger State, it felt like home for the president. Although, the visit was an affirmation of the usual support President Muhammadu Buhari enjoyed in the two previous presidential elections in the state, the timing of his last visit, specifically on January 19 was special.
In 2015 the president also visited Niger State on January 19 to campaign for votes. The President staged his 2015 rally at the Polo field in Minna after he was allegedly denied the more spacious Trade Fair complex. But on January 19 this year, he staged his rally at the trade complex without any hitch.
But before the rally was the commissioning of the popular Baro Inland water port which was completed by his administration.
At this time the Trade Fair complex was filled to capacity as early as 8:am. Information that the president would be commissioning Baro inland port before coming to the rally didn’t deter the crowd.
At the port commissioning in Baro, it was as if the rally was taking place there. Supporters who were all over the place to welcome him, cheered at the slightest glimpse of the president even as he kept his speech very brief.
At Baro in land water port inauguration, the President said the Port if fully operational would relieve Lagos Port a lot of pressure in terms of traffic jam and congestion, even as he said his administration was committed to developing critical infrastructures such as the Baro Port to engage the youths.
He promised to improve the facilities at the Port and also mentioned that a dual carriage road will be constructed from Baro to Abuja. He also said he will reactivate the rail lines from Baro to Minna adding that Niger State was dear to his heart. He pointed out that ongoing projects will be completed while new ones will be initiated.
By the time the president arrived the Trade Fair complex with the Niger State governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, the national chairman of the party Adams Oshiomole, director general of the presidential campaign council, Rotimi Amaechi, the whole venue was taken over by Buhari’s supporters.
The supporters took over the four pavilions provided and all available space were taken in a bid to get a glimpse of the president.
It was also observed that some who could not gain entrance into the complex were seen hanging on the busy Minna – Paiko road where the Trade Fair complex was located to listen and catch a glimpse of the president.
The chairman of the party in the state Engr Muhammad Jibril Imam delivered the welcome address where he gave a presentation of the achievements of the party in the state.
Imam assured the President that the state was undoubtedly an APC controlled state and that the president and all APC candidates will win convincingly in the forth coming general elections in the state.
The director general of the Presidential Campaign Council, Amaechi, in his speech said he had already told the people of Niger state what he had to tell them at an earlier day he was in Minna for the Governorship campaign rally flagged off by the Vice President Yemi Osibanjo.
He however told the crowd not to vote those who will steal their money positing that the same people were coming with their eyes set on the national wealth instead of true service to the people as being done by the APC.
Niger State Governor in a brief speech reassured the president that Niger State will vote for the President as usual, just as he urged all party supporters to work assiduously for the victory of the party.
The party national chairman, Oshiomhole, posited that the party is solidly on ground in Niger State considering the presence of its members at all levels in the state.
Oshiomole further declared that some former Nigeria military leaders and generals, have ganged up against the second term bid of President Muhammadu Buhari, positing however that the elections will be “ one man one vote, one general one vote”
He boasted that no gang up against Buhari will work because everybody has one vote. He stressed that the people should vote for Buhari who is with the masses.
The president in his brief remark promised to construct a rail line from Ibadan through Minna to Kaduna and Kano. He said it will also link the newly commissioned Baro Port as well as a standard gauge line linking Minna to Abuja.
He also promised that the reconstruction of Minna –Suleja and Bida –Lambata roads were ongoing while construction work will soon start on Mokwa-Tegina- Kaduna , Kontagora –Bokani and New Bussa –Kaiama roads.
The Plateau experience
The people of Plateau State and neighbouring states will not forget Saturday January 19, 2019 in a hurry. This was the day the presidential campaign train of the ruling party the APC, led by its candidate, President Muhammadu Buhari, arrived Jos, the Plateau State capital.
An unbelievably large crowd of President Buhari supporters had besieged the Rwang Pam township stadium, the venue of the presidential campaign rally.
At 10am, the stadium was already filled to the brim by thousands of APC supporters.
The arrival of the APC presidential flag bearer at the Rwang Pam stadium venue caused a roar of solidarity from the crowd, who began to surge toward the podium to have a close look at Buhari.
The road leading to the stadium was jammed with people. Also the surrounding streets like Ibrahim Dasuki, Tafawa Balewa, Maternity and Zik Avenue were all filled with a crowd of APC supporters.
The surge by the crowd quickly turned into a stampede to the point that the sound systems were trampled upon and baricade was overpowered.
The stage was overwhelmed by the charging crowd of President Buhari supporters which was unprecendented in the history of presidential campaigns in the state. The scenario became more dramatic as the crowd, overwhelmed with excitement, would not allow the president address them.
As a result the APC presidential flag bearer had to take a bow without uttering a word, the crowd said it all. He barely even had a chance to wave with his broom and give the legendary 4+4 fist.
A statement by the special adviser to the President, Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, captured the view of the presidency over the unprecedented incident.
In his statement shortly after the presidential rally, he said president Muhammadu Buhari extends heartfelt appreciation to the people of Plateau State, who turned out in innumerable numbers to welcome him in Jos, during his presidential campaign visit on Saturday.
According to him, the Rwang Pam Township Stadium, venue of the event, was completely overrun by a sea of humanity, made of ecstatic supporters of the President, who kept hailing the man they love and admire. So much was the tumult that the President could not eventually address the crowd.
He said after waiting for about an hour, with the melee not receding, but rather increasing in tempo and fervour, President Buhari received illustrious Plateau citizens who were crossing to the All Progressives Congress (APC) from other political parties, waved at the appreciative crowd, and left for Abuja.
Adesina added that the President lauds Plateau people for turning out in their thousands to welcome him into Jos, lining the roads right from the airport, defying the scorching sun.
He thanked them for their steadfastness over the years, and for continued faith in the administration, which was indicated by the turnout at the stadium.
According to him, president Buhari sues for greater restraint from teeming supporters and appreciative Nigerians in other campaign stops ahead, pleading that they allow the campaign programme run as planned, since it is also an opportunity for him to give a stewardship report.
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“We have been serving you for about four years, we want another four years mandate from you, it is needful for you to allow us give you a report. You deserve it,” the President said.
Interestingly, the APC rally was coming days after that of PDP Presidential campaign stopped over in the state, having it’s own share of supporters.
Expectedly, 48 hours to the APC presidential rally in Jos, the two major political parties in the state, APC and PDP had been engaged in a war of words.
Pre-rally Battle
PDP in a statement in Jos fired the first salvo ahead of the rally. The party while stating that it is aware that Buhari will grace the APC rally and commission projects, said “We are aware that even some projects, particularly the Bukuru – Mararaban jama’a high way which was ‘commissioned’ by him during his last state visit has been abandoned.”
PDP, in a statement assigned by its state publicity secretary, John Akans, said their position is informed by the need to put to rest the lies being bandied by governor Simon Lalong in a desperate attempt to justify his mismanagement of the funds that have accrued to his administration in the last three and half years.
Akans pointed out that it is exciting to note “that the planned visit of Mr.President is coming after Plateau people resolved on Saturday, January 12, 2019 at the Hassan Katsina Polo field, Jos, to overwhelmingly endorse the incoming President, Alh. Atiku Abubakar together with our governorship candidate, Senator General Jeremiah Timbut Useni.”
The statement added, “It is no longer news that Nigerians and, indeed, Plateau people, in particular, have rejected the APC. We are happy to note as well the fact that the God-fearing and peace-loving people of Plateau have spoken, and have dedicated this forthcoming general election to God.”
Akans also said they are worried to note that in further display of governor Lalong’s desperation, to impress Mr President while in Plateau State, the APC is known to have gone to the neighbouring state of Bauchi, Nasarawa and Gombe to, again, rent crowds for the purpose of the January 19 Presidential rally. We are aware this move is intended to cover up the expected abysmal outing after being rejected by the people of Plateau.”
The APC expectedly fired back in a statement issued by commissioner of information and communication Hon. Yakubu Dati.
He described PDP’s statement as a sign that it was in panic mode 24 hours before the scheduled visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to Plateau State for the presidential rally.
He said “The PDP is scared that President Buhari’s visit will further expose it as a vacuous assemblage of spent political forces seeking for relevance and may open the eyes of their financiers about claims to popularity.”
The commissioner also noted that they find the call by the PDP on Mr. President to inspect the projects executed by the state government and which he commissioned as counterintuitive as it will further project the laudable works of this administration and the pains it has taken to redeem some of the works abandoned by the last administration in the state adding that the PDP should know by now that the APC unlike the PDP does not thrive on lies and make believe.
“APC policies and projects are guided by sincere high sense of decency and commitment to alleviating the suffering visited on the people by the past administration.”
He reacted to the allegation of crowd hiring, saying “Crowd hiring and other acts of public deception are in the genes of the PDP that is why they imagine others can also think in that direction.
“But I will like to assure the PDP that we do not have such tendencies hence such criminal acts do not cross our minds.
“It is on record that no single political leader in Nigeria has been able to pull the kind of crowd our presidential candidate does. So why should anybody waste resources and efforts trying to achieve what naturally comes to the president”.
Post-rally Battle
After the rally, the back and forth continued. The PDP Campaign Council in the state condemned the outcome of the APC rally, calling it unruly.
It said it was concerned with the atmosphere of intimidation on peaceful residents perpetrated by weapon-wielding young people who made life most uncomfortable for the people all through the rally period.
PDP in a statement by chairman Media and Publicity Committee, Yiljap Abraham, maintained that the crowd that made the President’s speech impossible was ferried into Jos from Kaduna, Bauchi and Nasarawa States as well as the Federal Capital Territory.
He said everyone saw them during their passage and arrival. “Their rancorous behaviour showed they were neither resident in Plateau nor were they voters that would add value to the politics of Plateau.”
Yiljap further added that it is truly amazing that the government’s priority in using the youth is to recruit, train, retain and deploy squads of thugs rather than empower them to be society builders and peace makers.
PDP also called on the people of Plateau to interrogate, speak out, roundly condemn and reject any foreign element being imported that is inimical to the progress and security of the State while the Council assures the State that the party will continue to do all within its power to keep the peace as it works to restore the fortune and dignity of Plateau State.
In a swift response, the State commissioner of information and communication, Datti, told LEADERSHIP Sunday that President Buhari’s visit to the state emphasised the positive narrative brought about by governor Simon Lalong on the Plateau.
At the Rwang Pam stadium venue of the APC, presidential rally, he said people did not care to know where the person standing next to them came from.
“They did not bother about their faith or ethnicity, all they cared about was that they were there for a common purpose; and in the process demonstrated that it was possible to achieve unity and the peaceful atmosphere for development.”
He said this narrative which is a deliberate policy of the Governor Lalong administration, is a departure from an inglorious past, where nepotism and tribalism ruled the day and where antagonism was elevated to a state policy adding that part of the twist governor Lalong’s intervention has brought to bear on the state, is that Plateau can rise above sentiments and be on the path towards sustainable development as is currently being witnessed with the many laudable projects springing up in almost every nook and cranny of the state.
“Apart from projects initiated and completed by the state government under governor Lalong which are too numerous to mention here, the governor has attracted lots of federal projects through the cooperation with other tiers of government and the creation of an enabling environment for investment.”
He said the people of the state will vote president Buhari for second term noting that some of the projects that endeared him to the good people of the state include the N-power project, the Anchor Burrowers Scheme, Mangu water project, Pankshin-Gindiri –Bogoro road, the Lamba- Garam road, the Mobile Police Squadron in Gashish and Shendam, as well as the Nigerian Airforce Tactical Search and Rescue unit, kerrang, amongst others.
“Unfortunately, there are those who want to cover their eyes to all these achievements simply because it does not serve their political interests to admit that the current administration has walked the talk about making development to thrive in an atmosphere of peace.”
A staunch supporter of the APC Mallam Hameed Isah told our correspondent in Jos that if the mamoth crowd that thronged out to the Rwang Pam stadium is anything to go by, then Sen. JT Useni and Atiku Abubakar are in for a serious battle politically.
He said the crowd was a strong indication and message that president Buhari and Governor Lalong would have a smooth sailing in the February presidential and gubernatorial election respectively.
But Hon. Simon Dung of the PDP countered him maintaining that the people at the Rwang Pam stadium were a hired crowd from outside the state.
He pointed out that the under aged youths who alledgedly held president Buhari and Governor Simon and their entourage hostage in the Rwang stadium have no electoral value.
“Most of those youths are miscreants who have no PVC and were at the stadium to loot people’s property. There were complaints of stolen handset, money, cars and other personnal belongings of dignitaries at the stadium,” he said.
Obviously, as the day of the election draws closer, observers of Plateau politics are watching how these two major political parties would actualise their threat of winning the election. Only time will tell.
