JUST IN: I Was in the PDP, We Pay People to Carry Placards. It Used to be N5,000- Sergius Ogun

In an interview on Symfoni TV, on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, a former lawmaker from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hon. Sergius Ogun, has spoken out about the tactics used to rally support for political campaigns, highlighting the prevalence of cash incentives.

Campaigns often paid people to attend rallies and take part in crowd support operations, as Ogun recalled from his time in the PDP.

As he put it, it was a standard element of the party’s political mobilisation at the time to pay individuals to carry placards and fill gathering spaces.

Depending on the time period and campaign agreements, he said, guests will receive varying sums of money for their involvement.

He claims that the initially small payments escalated as people started demanding larger amounts in order to participate in the rallies.

Ogun went on to say that not all people hired to attend rallies were true believers; for example, some would leave campaign materials behind after events even though they were paid to stay.

He said, I was in the PDP, we pay people to carry placards. It used to be N5,000, later they will say if it is not N6,000 or N7,000 they will not go.

You pay them there and some will throw away the placard there after the rally but they will collect their money.

The transactional character of political mobilising at the time, he said, was represented in this practice.

The ex-lawmaker drew a comparison to the campaign tactics of Peter Obi, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential contender for 2027, saying that there is usually no paid attendance at Obi’s rallies and that his supporters are transported by buses.