By Peter Uwumarogie
#TrackNigeria – Vendors of transistor radio sets and newspapers in Gombe are
enjoying increased patronage following the victory of President Muhammadu
Buhari in the presidential poll.
Two of the vendors said they were making good sales as more residents of the state capital were buying newspapers and radio sets to keep abreast of political developments in the country.
Buhari, the candidate of All Progressives Congress, was re-elected with a score of 15,191,847 votes and defeated 72 other candidates, including the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, who scored 11, 255,978 votes.
Malam Ibrahim Usman, a newspaper vendor, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that since the announcement of the election result more people were patronising his stand in order to get the latest political news.
Usman said: “ the victory of President Buhari is good for business as more persons are looking forward to reading more unfolding stories on the victory.
“Even i here n Gombe, the celebration is like a carnival and more people are buying newspapers just to see the pictures of Buhari and read more about the happenings around Nigeria.
“ I wish elections were everyday so we can make more money. I can tell you I have never made this kind of money after such declaration in my years of doing this business.’’
Malam Garba Kawu, a radio set vendor in Gombe Main Market, said he had not enjoyed so much patronage as he had done since the eve of the presidential and National Assembly elections with average sale of eight sets per day.
“The way people have patronised me since Feb. 22 is frightening. On average, I sell eight transistor radios per day. Before now, I managed to sell five weekly which even dropped in some weeks,’’ he said.
A trader, Malam Muhammadu Bello, said he bought three transistor radio sets for his household before the elections so as to get election updates.
He added that power supply was poor and as such his family members relied on battery-powered radio sets to listen to news. (NAN)
