‘To hire a crowd is cheap in Nigeria’ — Melaye hits LP over rally in Abuja

Dino Melaye, spokesperson for the Atiku Abubakar campaign council, has accused the Labour Party (LP) of hiring a crowd for its rally in Abuja.

The supporters of the LP and Peter Obi, the party’s presidential candidate, have held several rallies in the last few months to marshal support across the country.

The latest of the procession was held in Abuja on Saturday, with supporters marching from the Unity Fountain to Moshood Abiola National Stadium.

Videos and pictures from the rally showed a teeming crowd that fanned out across Abuja streets in LP memorabilia and placards.

Reacting to the movement in a chat with Arise News TV on Monday, Melaye said “to assemble a crowd is just to bring out money”.

He then alleged that he knows people who attended the LP rally “saying we have to go and collect our own”.

“They are just two sets of people running this election. Atiku and others including the APC, LP, SDP, NNPP all of them are others in this regard,” the former Kogi senator said.

“And I want to tell you that to assemble a crowd is just to bring out money. Mobilisation is very cheap in this country. People are hungry. If you go to Nyanya, Mararaba people were being loaded in buses from Lugbe and every part of the country to stand and say they’re supporting…. Peter Obi was in Osun. He spoke in Osun, and we saw the result of the Labour Party in Osun just 2700 votes while PDP was counting four hundred and something thousand votes…so it’s not about the commercial mobilisation of the people.

“Nigerians are hungry. If you go to Mararaba today to say you need 5000 people with the blow of a whistle, they’ll assemble and collect their N1000 or N2000. It is not the match on the streets that will determine the votes. We’re talking of proper votes and Nigerians know that Atiku is speaking to the issues. We’re not on hype movements. I know a number of people who went for the Abuja rally and are saying we have to go and collect our own.”