US embassy cable - 03ABUJA1670

UNCLAS ABUJA 001670 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, NI, KDEM 
SUBJECT: BUHARI AND ANPP HOLD MAJOR RALLY IN KANO 
 
 
1.  Thousands of ANPP supporters converged on Kano September 
23 to attend a rally for 
its Presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari.  ANPP Chairman 
Don Etiebet, Vice 
Presidential candidate Chuba Okadigbo and Kano State Governor 
Ibrahim Shekarau were 
in attendance along with dozens of ANPP candidates from 
throughout the country. 
 
 
2.  Crowds began arriving at 0800 and by 1000 Kano was "shut 
down" according to 
BBC's Hausa radio service.  Eyewitness estimates of the crowd 
range from "hundreds of 
thousands" to "two million."  One told Poloff that it 
reminded him of Washington's 
"Million Man March" and another commented that it was 
"reminiscent of Buhari's 
campaign rallies" held throughout the country in the run up 
to the April elections.  The 
Buhari motorcade, arriving from his home in Daura, was held 
up for two hours by the 
masses lining the streets.  Inside the stadium, the situation 
was worse, with the crowd 
pressing to get close to their candidate. 
 
 
3.  The rally held in spite of a statement from police 
officials that the rally was "illegal 
and unauthorized."  Governor Shekarau overruled the police 
order and urged everyone to 
attend and ensure that the rally was peaceful.  The only 
security incidents during the rally 
came when the crowd surged, sometimes trapping people in the 
masses.  Okadigbo 
apparently fainted at one point and had to be carried away. 
Others commented that they 
had been "in fear for their lives" when the urge of the crowd 
threatened to trample them. 
Police evidently used teargas at the stadium to try to 
disperse the crowd.  One eyewitness 
commented that he had only seen similar crowd conditions in 
Mecca during the Hajj. 
 
 
4.  BBC and VOA Hausa services reported the rally was 
peaceful and had halted business 
throughout the city.  This is the first public mass 
opposition political gathering since the 
Obasanjo government issued a ban on rallies before the April 
19 Presidential elections. 
 
 
5.  COMMENT:  Buhari had been maintaining a low profile while 
waiting for his suit 
calling for new elections to make its way through the 
judicial process.  He remains 
worried that overzealous supporters could heat up the polity 
and the ensuing 
disenchantment with the performance of the Obasanjo 
government could result in 
violence, an outcome he has said he wants to avoid.  Buhari 
likely plans to stage more 
rallies in the future but will continue to carefully choose 
the venues in order to maintain 
control as long as the election tribunal case (septel) is 
pending. 
MEECE