Maintain peace during election, Peace Committee tells political parties

Taiwo Amodu – Abuja

Ahead of Saturday’s Governorship and State Assemblies elections, the Chairman of the National Peace Committee(NPC), General Abdulsalami Abubakar, has appealed to candidates and political parties to ensure that they maintain the peace throughout the last leg of the democratic transition.

Abubakar made the appeal in a statement issued on Thursday and made available to newsmen in Abuja.

While he expressed concern over recourse to ethnic and religious fault lines by certain candidates, the former Military Head of State called on security agencies to be vigilant.

Appraising the outcome of the Presidential and National Assembly elections, Chairman of the NPC who acknowledged the irregularities that trailed the process however applauded what he called the maturity of the aggrieved candidates.

The statement read in part, “Presidential elections have come and gone. However, problems have arisen from the process of the collation, transmission and release of the final results. This has generated the crisis in which we now find ourselves. Notwithstanding all this, we are pleased and encouraged by the matured attitudes of the candidates who contested the presidential elections.

“We are encouraged by the restraint they have exhibited and their commitment to seek justice through due process. This is in keeping with the spirit of the Peace Accord. We, therefore, appeal to the supporters of all the parties and our citizens to please follow a good example of their leaders and remain law abiding till the process is brought to an end.

“This weekend, on March 18, 2023, the second round of elections for the governorship and state assemblies will be conducted. We are worried by the open threats of intimidation and violence by certain elements within the society who are using ethnic and religious labels to achieve their intentions of voter suppression.

“We appeal to the security and law enforcement agencies to remain alert and to bring to book, anyone, no matter their position in society, who poses a threat to the peaceful conduct of the elections. We encourage all citizens not to be intimidated and to go out and exercise their God-given rights.”

On behalf of the Peace Committee, Abubakar expressed gratitude to peace-loving Nigerians, including the security agencies.

He prayed that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will do everything possible to ensure that the elections are peaceful so as to gain the confidence of citizens.

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