Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State has described the mammoth crowd at a rally for the re-election bid of President Muhammadu Buhari as an automatic endorsement of his candidature by people of the state.
He said the massive turn-out of Plateau people to welcome the president was not a surprise as similar incident was recorded in 2011 and 2014 when he (Buhari) visited the state to campaign.
Gov. Lalong stated this on Sunday while fielding questions from State House correspondents in Jos, Plateau state.
Recall that Buhari, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was in Jos yesterday in continuation of his nationwide campaign for the February 16 general elections.
The Rwang Pam Township Stadium, venue of the event, was jam-packed by ecstatic party supporters, who kept hailing the man they love and admire a lot.
So much was the surge that the President could not eventually address the crowd.
After waiting for about an hour, he waved at the appreciative gathering and left for Abuja.
Reacting, Gov. Lalong said: “Well, I think this is unique to Plateau. In 2011, when he came (to Plateau) he couldn’t even come down. So he had to leave that way, he just greeted the crowd and left.
“In 2014 when he came we were able to manage the crowd for him to address them but before he got out of the stadium it was terrible for us.
“So, for Saturday’s rally we tried to manage the crowd, we did all we could but the crowd was too much and you saw it yourselves, this was not a hired crowd.
“This was a mammoth crowd that loves Mr President, natural love for Mr President. We did our best to manage the crowd but it was overwhelming.’’
The governor added that though the president could not speak to the crowd he was satisfied with the outcome of the rally
“In other words, the crowd can also say we don’t need anything. We have confidence, Mr President, go and finish your second term.
“I’m very well satisfied with the outcome of the rally because this is a way of our people saying Mr President even without addressing us we have confidence in you,’’ he said.
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