By Solomon Dalung, Esq
The APC has scheduled its Kaduna rally at Ranchers Bees Stadium, a venue with a capacity of about 5,000 people. Yet, we are already hearing claims that millions of people will be welcoming President Tinubu to Kaduna. Millions? In a stadium that accommodates about 5,000? Apparently, the APC has discovered a new method of expanding stadium capacity: political arithmetic.
By the time the rally ends, perhaps the crowd will be large enough to populate an entire state, at least on paper! But there is an important clarification. This is not merely a Kaduna rally; it is being presented as a Northwest campaign rally involving supporters from all seven states in the region. Therefore, any rented crowd seen at the event cannot be attributed to Kaduna alone.
Even so, the figures being circulated still deserve scrutiny, especially when campaign officials present regional attendance as proof of overwhelming support in one state. Kaduna is not a state where the APC can afford to confuse propaganda with popularity.
The political mood of the state, the grievances of its people and their experience under the current administration will matter far more than the figures campaign officials manufacture to impress the President.
In 2027, the APC may succeed in convincing Nigerians that millions welcomed Tinubu at a Northwest rally in Kaduna. The real test will come when voters across the region enter the polling booths. That is where propaganda ends, and electoral reality begins. Dalung Esq., was Muhammadu Buhari’s Minister of Sports.
