Jonathan’s campaign buses ‘smuggled into Kano’

When the campaign train of Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) hits the ancient city of Kano on Wednesday, security will be bolstered not only around the president and his main men, but also around the drivers of his campaign buses.

The buses ought to have been driven to Kano since December when they were purchased, but both commercial and private drivers in the neighbouring city of Kaduna, where the buses were stationed, refused to take up the offer despite been offered a whopping N70,000 for the trip.

According to a Kaduna indigene who spoke with TheCable, the drivers’ fears were well-founded, as it was a crime of sorts in kaduna to public display solidarity with Jonathan’s re-election ambition.

“No single driver accepted the job because they were afraid that they would be attacked,” he said.

“In the end, we began to hear that the buses would be driven to Kano by soldiers.”

On Sunday night, however, the buses left Kaduna at about 11pm, driven by men who took to the cover of the night to escape being identified.

“One of the drivers who accepted the job said he could only drive in the night, to avoid the wrath of the people. It was literally as though the buses were smuggled to Kano,” he said.

“The buses were also accompanied by soldiers. They had to be strongly protected by men of the Nigerian army. When the president goes to campaign in Kano on Wednesday, expect firmer security than you have been seeing at previous rallies.”

Although Muhammadu Buhari and Jonathan, the two leading candidates, joined others to signed a peace accord exactly one week ago at a general election sensitisation workshop on non-violence, the buildup to next month’s election remains fraught with hate speeches and minor incidents of violence on the side of both the PDP and opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).

On Monday, there was outrage over a newspaper advert by Ayodele Fayose, governor of Ekiti state, which listed three heads of state from the north-west region who died while in office and suggested that Buhari (a native of north-western katsina state), could also go their way.

On Tuesday, Jonathan’s campaign team was harassed in Katsina by hundreds of people carrying brooms, the APC symbol, chanting “Sai Buhari”, calling Jonathan “arna” (“unbeliever”) and pelting his convoy after they were dispersed by soldiers and anti-riot policemen who fired canisters of teargas.