Parallel congress and defection

Up until the day before the election, three different venues were being mentioned for the congress. The letter I received from the party secretariat said it will take place at the Marayu Stadium. We were later told at the caucus meeting that it would take place at the Government House and when we raised an objection, we were told it would be moved to Deluge Hotel. The day before the congress, two news bulletins on Tafki Radio separately mentioned the hotel and the stadium as venues of the congress.
So on the day of the congress, some people went to the stadium while others went to the hotel. My scouts came back and said three out of the eight aspirants were at the hotel together with some state party officials. Another three aspirants were at the stadium. There were also some party officials and even some commissioners there. Goshin Bauna was not seen at either of the venues. I decided to go to the stadium. We waited there for many hours because we were told the officials sent by the national secretariat were on their way.
Around 2pm, our scouts phoned Tsinin Kusa and said Goshin Bauna and his people were seen entering the sports centre of the Tafki State Polytechnic. Very soon we heard that the Governor was also there together with officials from Abuja. I hurriedly left the stadium with scores of delegates and headed for the polytechnic. When we got there, the place was surrounded by 50 Mobile Policemen. They said we will not enter because the Governor was already inside. Before you know it, our Youth Wing members led by Maitawaye charged at the door. The policemen fired tear gas into our midst. Dust and smoke soon enveloped the whole place. Stones, sticks and bottles were flying all over the place. I had to be helped into my car before I escaped from the scene. Before I got home, I heard on the car radio that the congress went on smoothly and that Goshin Bauna won the election by a landslide. They said he got more than 2,000 votes and that I came third with 10 votes. What even annoyed me most was that they said Ciroman Bidi’a got more votes than me.
Many delegates followed me to my house, so Maikahon Karo led us to a football field in a nearby secondary school where we held our own congress. The returning officer declared that I got 2,155 votes, Goshin Bauna got 3 while the other aspirants scored no votes. We later heard that former minister Dokin Karfe also held his own congress at the stadium where he won by a landslide. Not surprisingly, we heard on Tafki Radio that the national secretariat recognised the parallel congress held by the Governor and his anointed candidate Goshin Bauna.
Meanwhile, the opposition Stomach Infrastructure Party [SIP] was holding its congress the same day at Amunku Hotel, 20 kilometres outside Birnin Tafki. Their officials kept delaying the congress’ start. As soon as I got home I saw a delegation from SIP. They said they had been delaying the start of their congress. It was supposed to start at 10am but as at 5pm they were still doing accreditation. They now invited me to defect to their party and I would be promptly adopted as the consensus governorship candidate. I asked them for time to consult my supporters but they said there was no time for that, that I should come to their convention straight away, that they had printed a ballot paper with only my name on it.
I stepped aside with Alhaji Gohe, MaikahonKaro, TsininKusa, Alhaji Musa and other top campaign officials. Within 10 minutes we decided to accept their offer. So we entered our vehicles and drove straight to Amunku Hotel. Right at the door they gave all of us SIP membership cards. They now said I should settle with the two governorship aspirants in the party so they will step down for me. One of them is a former Local Government councillor while the other is a retired school principal.  Each one of them had already calculated what he spent in the campaign. The councillor said he spent N15million while the principal said he spent N5 million. The state chairman of SIP asked me to promise to reimburse them so that they will go straight to the podium and withdraw from the race.
I was about to make the pledge when Maikaho seized the paper and looked at it. He looked at the principal and said, “You, where did you get N5 million to spend in a campaign? Are you not the one I saw on television saying pensioners have not been paid for 5 months and that you are starving? You that cannot even eat, where did you get N5 million? We will give you one million naira, that’s all!” When Maikaho turned to face the other aspirant, the man began shivering and said he made a mistake, that he wanted to write N3 million but mistakenly wrote N15 million. “We will give you N2 million!” Maikaho said. SIP’s chairman then said the party also spent N5 million to organise the congress. Maikaho flared up. “Which N5 million did you spend? Look at this venue! Is it not a tiny hotel far out of town? All you gave the delegates is pure water!  No even Coca Cola, not to talk of food! Alhaji will give you N2 million.” I also pledged N10,000 to each delegate present at the congress.
Five minutes later, the chairman marched the two aspirants to the podium. One after the other they withdrew from the race. They said they decided to withdraw because the party has found a credible candidate who has the popularity and the resources to win the main election. While they were talking, a photographer was brought and he quickly took my pictures. He rushed into one small room where some computer savvy boys were waiting. They took the picture, put it in a computer, superimposed the SIP flag on it and rolled it out on a mobile printer. Copies of the poster were rushed into the congress hall and delegates were soon holding it high. Ballot papers with Yes and No were shared to the delegates. They marked the ballot papers and dropped them in a box. In less than one hour the votes were counted. Everybody voted for me except one person. SIP officials immediately launched a search to find out who the traitor is.