The much advertised visit of the first lady, Dame Patience Jonathan to Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, to garner support for the re-election bid of her husband, President Goodluck Jonathan, ended abruptly on Saturday.
Sunday Tribune reliably gathered that her non-appearance at the well mobilised event has caused panic among supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), especially women and youths, who had converged on City Hall, along Shendam road, Lafia as early as 9.00 a.m.
Party sources said Mrs. Jonathan’s sudden change of itinerary may be as a result of security reports that her convoy might be attacked by persons suspected to be loyalists of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state. Another source added that, “her change of programme was not unconnected with the unfavourable weather condition. The weather is not clear; you cannot expect her with her entourage to travel by road. No. Definitely, we will reschedule it, we want her here, and so she needs to come, maybe next week.”
In an interview with Sunday Tribune shortly after the event, the state deputy governor, who also doubles as the state campaign coordinator, Goodluck/Sambo 2015, Honourable Dameshi Luka Barau said he can’t say precisely for now why the first lady’s visit couldn’t hold.
According to him, “this is a women programme, and I am not personally handling it, so I cannot say whether she is coming back or not, probably the organisers of the programme should be in best position to answer that. After this programme, we will meet them to know exactly what happened.
