2019 elections: Stakeholders urge to eschew violence

AS Nigerians go to polls on Saturday to elect a new president and members of the National Assembly, a Bauchi based Non-Governmental Organisation, Forward in Action for Education, Poverty and Malnutrition (FACEPAM), has called on all stakeholders in the North-East region to put hands on deck to ensure a violence-free 2019 elections in the region.

The call was made by the Executive Director of FACEPAM, Dr Ado Solomon, in a press conference on Wednesday, saying that the call became imperative due to
the prevalence of violence in the region pointing out that election violence could worsen the situation in the country.

Ado Solomon said: “Of concern to many people is the loss of lives and destruction of property that characterised this process which should ideally be peaceful and seamless. Over 800 people were reported dead following the 2011 elections. Similar reports show that apart from Borno State because of the dreaded attack of Boko Haram, Bauchi State ranks high in terms of political violence in the North East zone.”

According to him, the memories of the lives lost and the properties destroyed after the announcement of the 2011 elections “are still fresh in our minds”, adding, “if this ugly incident is not addressed by key actors, Nigeria will gradually plunge into a state of anarchy like the election crises in Kenya, Ivory Coast and Central Africa.”

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He stated further that: “The North East is a challenged region in all development indices compared with other zones in the country and election violence can only aggravate the situation. That is why it is critical for all hands to be on deck to ensure peaceful elections.”

“Come February 16, Nigerian citizens will go to the polls to vote for President and members of the National Assembly. Governorship and State House of Assembly elections will be held March 2. FACEPAM is a North East implementing partner for the Nigeria Election Violence Report (NEVR) project which has its presence in Nigeria since 2017 and is implemented in 13 countries.”

Ado Solomon further disclosed that to ensure a violence-free 2019 general elections, FACEPAM has strengthened the capacity of 24 Civil Society Organisations and trained 60 monitors across the six North Eastern states to monitor and report election violence incidence.

He said six town hall meetings were conducted across the project implementation states involving 120 stakeholders of NEVR, on mitigation of violence, targeting 10, 000 participants across the six states in the North East to increase peaceful participation in the election processes.

“We call on political parties to eschew campaigns of calumny and the use of political thugs. They must play politics according to the rules and imbibe the spirit of politics without bitterness, the candidates must rein on their followers and supporters to maintain peace before, during and after the election”, he concluded.