Videos from Enugu show large groups of All Progressives Congress supporters protesting the payments they received for attending a campaign event. The rally backed Governor Peter Mbah’s re-election and President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 bid. Participants said they arrived at 9:00 am and stayed under white tents until 5:00 pm. They said organisers offered them ₦4,000 each.
Accounts differ on the figure. One circulating video carries the protest line, “How can you give us only ₦5,000 for coming out from 9am to 5pm?” The same footage reports the offer as ₦4,000. Participants alleged that officials handling the payment received more money for distribution than they released. The exchanges were heated and captured on camera. Neither the party nor the governor has responded.
Payment for attendance is not new. Crowd mobilisation has run on cash since the return to elected government in 1999. The 2007 cycle was the high watermark, with state governors funding transport, refreshment and stipends at ward level. The 2015 and 2019 cycles moved the money onto transfers. The 2023 naira redesign briefly broke the chain, when cash scarcity stranded organisers and forced them into account transfers that left trails.
What has changed is the accounting, not the practice. A day’s attendance now has a published rate, and the rate is contested in public. That is new. The dispute also lands in a state chapter that received 25 campaign vehicles from a movement patron on Monday. Logistics arrived before the stipends did.
The party’s exposure is straightforward. Every unpaid supporter is a witness with a phone, and the 2027 campaign will need those same crowds again. A mobiliser who short-changes a ward in 2026 will find the ward harder to fill in 2027.
Winners: The officials who handled the distribution, if the allegation holds. The party, which got a full day of attendance. Losers: The supporters who spent eight hours for ₦4,000, the state chapter’s credibility with its own base, and the campaign’s ability to fill the next venue.
Bottom Line: A crowd paid to attend will eventually audit the invoice, and the audit now happens on camera.