Late arrival of delegates delays take-off of PDP convention

Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Convention Committee, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State, has said that late arrival of delegates delayed the take-off of the convention.
Okowa, who spoke with newsmen at the PDP convention holding in Port Harcourt on Saturday, said the most challenging part of the convention was the inability of delegates to arrive early.
Delegates were being meticulously screened as they troop in but accreditation is still yet to commence.
The delegates were made to pass through three gates of screening before getting into the main bowl where the election would take place.

To enter into the main bowl was made so difficult by the committee that many journalists were not allowed to enter in spite of their accreditation cards.
One of the delegates from Kano, Shuaibu Adamu from Kano assured of successful convention, while Shehu Sani from Bauchi urged delegates to vote the right aspirant.
Joshua Momoh from Delta urged delegates to elect a credible candidate for 2019 Presidential election.
Most of the delegates said that they were satisfied with the security arrangement at the convention venue, especially the weather which was clement.
Delegates in their thousands were already at the convention venue – Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium – and had turned the venue into a carnival ground with great pomp and pageantry.
Many aspirants with their supporters were in their various uniforms chanting political songs and making merriment, while awaiting accreditation.
Meanwhile, food vendors, traders in various consumables, stickers and caps have set up canopies around the stadium.
Some of the delegates have also been sleeping in vehicles parked within the open spaces around the stadium since October 5.

Similarly, posters of the 13 aspirants jostling for the party’s Presidential ticket at the Convention conspicuously adorned streets leading to the stadium.
The aspirants are Alhaji Atiku Abubakar; Senator Bukola Saraki; Ibrahim Dankwambo, Rabiu Kwankwaso; Aminu Tambuwal; Ahmed Makarfi; and Jonah Jang.
Others are Senator David Mark; Sule Lamido; Attahiru Bafarawa; Tanimu Turaki; Datti Baba-Ahmed and Stanley Osifo.
The presence of Nigeria Police Force (NPF) personnel and sister security agencies were also noticeable at the stadium gates and around the stadium to maintain law and order.
Praise singers with various musical instruments professing the virtues of their candidates also thronged the venue.
A delegate, Alhaji Kure Aminu, said at the Sokoto State pavilion that delegates from the state were ready for the convention, saying that Tambuwal, who is also from Sokoto State, would win.
Delegates from Abia, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states said that they were voting for aspirants they believed would win the 2019 presidential election on the platform of the party.
Garba Iliyasu, a delegate from Bauchi State, also expressed confidence that PDP would win in the 2019 elections.