Peace Accord: Accept the outcome of Elections, Abdulsalam Tells Candidates
By Olusegun HOSEA.8th November,2024.
The National peace Committee -NPC in conjunction with INEC as conveyed by the former head of state Gen. Abdulsalam A Abubakar -GCFR, the chairman of the NPC , welcomed all the people to Ondo state. He asked the party’s candidates to accept the outcome of election in order for peace to reign. He asked the INEC to live up to their responsibilities by conducting free ,fair and credible elections. He commended the police and the state government for maintaining peace in the state. He asked the people of the Ondo State to come out and exercise their civic responsibility. He asked all the politicians to respect the ethics of the accord and urged them to shun violence. He said it’s the duty of all of us to maintain peace in the country because if there is no peace, there would not be a country for us to live .
In his good will message, the Chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission INEC, Prof. Yakubu Mahmood said the first peace Accord was signed outside in Abuja in Edo State and since then, the commission has been doing that in various states. He said this is the second time the peace Accord had been signing by the political parties in Ondo State.
He said the Ondo Governorship election in the state would be peaceful by the grace of God. He said the election materials had been moved across all the local government in the state. He said the peace Accord is not an automatic document as the commitment of the candidates to the peace Accord in ensuring that peace reign at the end of the elections is crucial.
From the security Agencies, the Rep of IG, DIG -Sylvester Abiodun Alabi, delivered the good will message of the IG. He said they would provide all levels playground for the political parties. That they would rendered assistance to the INEC to facilitate the exigency of their works. He said the police would guaranteed the safety of the lives and property of the electorates. He said each polling units would be given at least five police personnel and they would patrol all the nooks and crannies of the state for security purposes. He said all duly signed election results by the INEC would be collected while promising that all Police Barracks in the state would be secured.He said soliciting for any vote on the election day is an offence. He said using any vehicles bearing any political party symbol is an offence on the day of election. He said the police would provide Armor vehicle and other security gurdjets would be deployed on the election day to secure the whole environment for peace to reign.
Similarly, the pre assessment of the Ondo State 2004 Governorship election by the Yiaga Africa was carried out. She said allegations of violence and money politics and voter inducement are part of what the organization finds out during the assessment. Also, Invalid votes are more in the Southern part of the state. Safiya Bichi, Head of Knowledge, Management and Learning, Yiaga Africa called on the INEC to intensifies their efforts in ensuring that more voters education should be carried out for the the citizens before the election.
The facilitator of the Peace Accord, Matthew kukah Hassan-called on all the political parties one after the others to come up on stage to sign the peace Accord. The Governorship candidate and the Chairman of the political parties have committed their signature to the peace Accord and promised to talked to their followers that the the election would be peaceful , before, during and after the election.
In his response, the governor of Ondo State,HE Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa appreciated all the dignitaries and all the candidates that made the program a success. He thanked and commended the committee of the NPC under the General Abdulsalam Abubakar for the good job well done. The governor said Ondo State is a peaceful state and believed that the peace enjoying in the state would be sustained during and after the election.
He appealed to the political stakeholders in the state to abide by the tenet of the peace Accord . He said election would come and gone but Ondo State will remain peaceful and that they would abide by the outcome of the election.
The dignitaries present at the event are General Abdulsalam: Chairman National peace Committee , Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, Matthew kukah Hassan- Arch Bishop of Catholic Diocese kaduna,Prof. Mahmood Yakubu
REC Ondo Oluwatoyin Babalola
CP Abayomi Oladipupo
Prince Olaoluwa Adesanyan -IPAC Chairman
CAN Chairman. Father Haslem Ologun
Chief Iman,- Alhaji Yayi Akorede and host of others.
