Umar Yar’adua entered Eagle square and took his seat at the Katsina section of the stands. He looked out to a band of jostling camera men.
“Hold up his hands!” someone shouted from the crowd. James Ibori, standing next to the only governor remaining in the race to become the People’s Democratic Party candidate, took Yar’adua’s hands and held them aloft. The Katsina delegates were jubilant. Voting had not even started yet, but the winner was already clear. That morning every other governor had pulled out.
For two days before, Abuja was busy with arriving delegates. On the eve of the primaries Asokoro was heaving with traffic. Queues of cars were seen entering the grand mansions of the states Abuja headquarters. The Hilton was full of delegates in celebratory mood. In the piano bar a shout of “PDP power cha!” went up. In Zone 4 the money changers were doing brisk business. One delegate was said by cashiers to have left the bureau de change with a million dollars in a Gana-must-go.
The convention started late. Until 3pm there were more security personnel in Eagle Square than there were delegates. The balloons and posters, presumably prepared long in advance, carried only one face. Umar Yar’adua looked down on the venue from every angle. “This is a coronation, not an election” one reporter said. Delegates had been offered a reported N250,000 for their votes.
Foreign diplomats invited to the convention were given passes with the title “foreign chapter” emblazoned on them. This gave journalists the impression they represented the PDP’s branches abroad. It was an impression that was not dispelled when the master of ceremonies announced: “Welcome to the PDP’s foreign chapters. The PDP is a growing party with representation in America and all over Europe.”
South South and South West states arrived first, each delegate from Ogun, Osun, Oyo, and Delta states had a matching costume of wax print. Katsina state delegates did not arrive until just moments before their candidate. The Niger state delegation did not arrive until moments before voting took place.
The two front rows of the Rivers state delegation did not arrive until the last minute either, maybe a clue as to why the convention started so late in the afternoon.
Head of the Governors’ Forum Lucky Igbinedion, revealed they were in a long meeting most of the night persuading the governor-aspirants to stand down, back Yar’adua, and deliver their state’s block votes. The meeting had resumed that morning and ended a matter of hours before the convention began.
A senior staffer of the Jerry Gana campaign said: “We have 11 or 12 states that have indicated they will vote f or us. It is looking like there might be a protest vote against this meddling.”
But Igbinedion was clear the voting would be simply a formality: “There will be no protest vote”, he said.
A Rivers state delegate Told Daily Trust: “We have our leaders and they inform us of how to vote, and we will be loyal to them. As of yet we don’t know how we are voting, but we will know. We have our signs and signals.”
Their leader Peter Odili went into the bullet-proof glass surrounded VIP room with the group of other governors just before 4pm. But later, as the votes were being cast, reporters scanning the president’s box could not see any sign of him.
The president himself had arrived and immediately set off on a tour of the parade ground soaking up applause. It was the grandest entrance imaginable and he got the greatest applause from Katsina state. In sharp contrast Aliyu Gusau slipped in to the presidential box almost unnoticed.
Outside the parade ground the streets were blocked by police, but a large crowd of street hawkers gathered on Amadhu Bello. A Mopol armoured car sped around, clearing the streets for the convoys that delivered the VIPs to the convention. Yar’adua arrived in an armoured jeep with federal government plates, as he passed supporters sung and danced his praises, holding aloft a poster with his face on. They pressed the police security cordon on Shehu Shagari a little too much and police beat them back.
After holding his hands aloft, Yar’adua’s security man shouted “No more cameras! No more photos!”
One photographer responded: “A-ah! Is this how you will rule us?”
The candidates were brought out onto the platform as the voting procedure was explained. Sarah Jibril seized on an opportunity to ask if the delegates could address the crowd for five minutes: “They don’t know us!” she said. She got down on her knees to implore the president to allow it. The stage manager of the event went to the presidential box to ask the president’s response. He swatted him away with a dismissive hand.
Voting started after a long series of speeches about amendments to the PDP constitution which journalists who didn’t have the constitution or the amendments in front of them had little chance of understanding, even if they could hear the words above the distortion of the PA system.
Voting started. The ballot boxes opened and tipped over to show nothing was in them. Delegates were counted out 20 at a time. Many cast their votes purposefully, spending little time in the booth considering their options.
The media were kept 10 metres away from the boxes by a large number of police and civil defence officers. Half way through the voting the lights went out, plunging the venue into darkness. The lights cut out about five times during the night.
After voting some of the 5000 candidates told Daily Trust they had been forced into voting for Yar’adua. One said: “Actually we are scared of the consequences if we don’t.”
As soon as their numbered ballot paper was cast most delegates left Eagle Square, leaving just the security services. “It is like a police convention”, one reporter observed.