Voting in Order and Conviviality

In spite of the number of parties in competition voter behavior was exemplary across the Region.

Voting day in Garoua and other parts of the North Region contrasted heavily with what many observers had envisaged given the sheer number of political parties in competition here and the determination by all of them either to conquer new ground or to hold firm by the incumbents. The clement weather in most parts of the Region was an added booster. In Garoua city itself, several Christian churches started the day with morning prayers as the singing of religious songs from precinct churches from time to time broke the early morning silence as many people stayed at home in respect of the public holiday and the proscription of any form of public activity from dusk to dawn.

Although most polling stations were open at the 8 AM statutory hour, voting started in earnest from about 9 AM when clusters of citizens could be found at the stations. The principal administrative officers of Garoua as well as the non-resident political élite such as the Minister for Basic Education Mrs Youssouf Adidja Alim and the Lamido of Garoua Alim Hayatou voted respectively at the Ecole publique du Plateau and the Ecole des garcons between 10 AM and 11AM. North Governor Otto Joseph Wilson had preceded Mrs Youssouf at the Plateau. When he emerged from voting, the Governor told reporters security and administrative reports he had received so far were encouraging enough for him to predict a smooth election across the line. He however warned all the actors to be well behaved during the counting phase of the operation.

Other high-profile personalities who voted in Garoua included the Minister of Communication Issa Tchiroma Bakary at the Foulberé Government Practising Nursery School polling station and the Roving Ambassador at the Presidency of the Republic Badjika Ahidjo at the Bibémiré polling station. The two are the best known opponents of the CPDM in town. Mr Tchiroma remarkably praised the general atmosphere of conviviality that characterized the voting, highlighting the fact that he even hugged his opponent of the CPDM at the polling station.