By Christian Njoku
Major parks in the Calabar metropolis have witnessed an increase in passengers who want to go home in time before the commencement of the 2023 general election.
A visit to some of the parks on Thursday showed many people especially students with their luggage stranded with very few available vehicles to convey them to their various destinations.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN) one of the stranded passengers, Mr Francis Akpan said he needed to go back home to Akwa Ibom because that was where his polling unit was and he had to vote.
“The situation here is sad because many people want to travel but there are no vehicles while there are rumours that the parks would be shut tomorrow Feb. 24, I don’t know what to do presently,” he said.
On her part, Miss Juliana Odey a student of the University of Calabar (UNICAL) said she came out very early in the morning and visited three parks only to see crowds in all the parks, people also trying to go home before the election.
Odey said she would be 20 years old in June and has to vote because Nigeria needs a new set of leaders who are credible enough to pull it out of the mess that it is in.
While the passengers lamented the situation, an official of one of the transport companies (names withheld) said he was happy about the rush because it meant more money for them.
He said since the week started there had been an increase in passengers but it doubled from Wednesday, Feb. 22 as UNICAL officially closed asking students to go back home for the election.
Similarly, NAN observed that major political parties in the state have taken the opportunity to endear themselves in the hearts of the electorates by providing buses to convey some passengers free of charge.
At the popular Mobil junction Calabar, vehicles bearing logos of the All Progressive Congress, (APC) and pictures of some of their candidates are seen loading and conveying passengers to the other Local Government Areas of the state.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was not left out with so many people seen at the party’s secretariat waiting for vehicles that would convey them to different parts of the state. (NAN)
