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By Chukwudi Abiandu 

Asaba, Delta State — A sea of humanity, clad in the unmistakable colours of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), swept through the streets of Asaba on Saturday, as the party’s one-million-man awareness march turned into a powerful show of force and an unshakeable declaration that the APC’s days in power are numbered.

The procession, which began peacefully at about 10 a.m. from the Inter Bau Roundabout, wound its way along Nnebisi Road, with ecstatic supporters dancing to party music, distributing fliers, and chanting “five-over-five”, a rallying cry for NDC candidates at every level in the 2027 elections.

But the joy was briefly threatened when a band of thugs, identified as members of a task force overseeing tricycle operations in Asaba, launched a vicious attack on the marchers. Wielding machetes and heavy sticks, and some riding on scooters, the hoodlums descended on NDC campaign vehicles at Kowea Junction, smashing windscreens and chanting menacingly: “Which NDC, which NDC, which NDC?”

Their attempt to disrupt the march, however, was short-lived. NDC supporters, fired by conviction and courage, repelled the attackers. Some thugs fled the scene, others were caught and given a thorough beating, and a scooter used in the attack was set ablaze. In a matter of minutes, soldiers of the Delta Sweep arrived to restore calm, and the march — unbowed and unbroken — resumed its triumphant course through Ibusa Road junction and Ogbeogonigo Market, finally terminating at the Traffic Light Roundabout.

Addressing the mammoth crowd, the NDC’s Delta North Senatorial candidate, Rt. Hon. Victor Ochei, declared with confidence that the one-million-man march was proof that the NDC has come to stay. To thunderous applause, he announced that the party’s presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, and his running mate, Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, will be voted into office come January 2027, along with NDC candidates for the Senate and House of Representatives.

“We have come to tell them that NDC has come to stay,” Ochei declared. “And that the party, when voted into power, is committed to ending the current sufferings imposed on Nigerians by the incompetent APC administration.”

He then put the question to the crowd: “Will you vote for them again?” The response was a resounding, thunderous “No!” echoing across the roundabout.

Ochei, a former Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, said the NDC stands with the people’s conviction that “enough is enough.” He pledged the party’s commitment to retrieving power from the APC and restoring hope to Nigerians.

“In my capacity as a former Speaker, it is my responsibility to put the question that APC be voted out at the presidential and all other elections in which NDC is fielding candidates,” he said. And as he put the question, the ayes had it — overwhelmingly in favour of an NDC takeover of government at the federal, state, and all National and State Assembly elections.

Demonstrating the party’s national reach, Ochei, having spoken in English, switched to fluent Hausa to address the strong presence of supporters from Nigeria’s northern axis, further underscoring that the NDC’s message of liberation is resonating across every corner of the country.

The march ended on a high note, with supporters confident that the brief attack by thugs was nothing but a desperate last gasp of a dying order. For the NDC faithful in Asaba, the message was clear: the wind of change has begun to blow, and no amount of machetes or sticks can stop it.

PHOTOS By CHUKWUDI ABIANDU