Adamawa 2023: The crowd that attended the rally by the Binani faction of the APC was for business venture, not support. Kumangar replies APC.

Solomon Kumangar the Director General media to Governor Fintiri of Adamawa state urged the APC in Adamawa state to ensure the rented crowds which they budgeted over 100 million naira for to welcome its gubernatorial candidate, were not scams.

The Director General argued that the hired crowd at the APC rally penultimate Saturday does not translate to votes, as evident in the 2019 general election where the crowd at campaign venues did not reflect the voting pattern.

Kumangar reasoned, “we know for sure that when APC is preparing for the campaign, they have a budgeted for mobilising a crowd and what you have seen is a rented crowd.

It was reported that a chieftain of the APC in Adamawa said they had to hire about 20,000 people to welcome Aishatu Dahiru.

“But it is quite disturbing because first, let’s look at what is the objective of yesterday’s rally. It is just simply to campaign and have people – voters and party members engaged with leaders. It is always not a two-way engagement.

“It is just a show of strength between the two factions of APC in Adamawa – Binani group is showing the Ribadu camp that they have the crowd and they have these people behind them. But it does not in any way translate to votes and we must put that out.

It doesn’t translate to votes, that you have 20000 people at a street rally does not mean those people are going to cast their vote for you. That is one.

“Two, how many of those people have their Permanent Voter Card (PVCs)? How many of these people are of voting age? If you check very well, I don’t think some of them do.

But again, that a party has a crowd at a rally does not in any way translate to votes and it is very worrying because what objective does it serve? if it is not serving the personal interest of the APC and just to show their strength to outsmart the Ribadu faction.

“if it is also a strategy to intimidate the PDP in Adamawa as well as intimidate the public they have gotten it wrong. In 2019, we saw crowds in different political parties’ campaigns but we saw the voting pattern.

In the Governorship election, we saw that as well. So, it is funfair as far as I am concerned, it lacks substance, and to a large extent, that is while you cannot underestimate the power of debate because of what it does. It provides the opportunity for intensive engagement with people that ask questions.

“What we witnessed yesterday is voter inducement and you can see the crowd because they are hired and they are willing to avail themselves for yesterday’s rally and others that will be organised by the Binani faction so that they can be paid.

Donot forget there is poverty in the land and when people are poor, the elites work on that poverty. what you saw happening yesterday is just a manifestation of what transpired at the governorship APC primary that produced Binani.

The crowd that attended the rally by the Binani faction of the APC was not for support but for a business venture, stressing that this is dangerous to Nigeria’s democratic journey.