Presidential Candidates sign Agreement to Maintain Peace during and after Elections
All presidential candidates of political parties in Nigeria have reached an agreement to work towards preventing electoral violence before, during and after the February 14 elections.
The candidates, including President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), General Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Professor Oluremi Sonaiya of the KOWA Party, signed an accord in Abuja on Wednesday during a sensitisation workshop on non-violence elections.
The candidates were forced to put their presidential campaigns scheduled for Wednesday on hold in order to sign the accord which also stated that the institutions involved in organising the polls must be impartial.
The President spoke with the other candidates at the opening of the workshop, saying the workshop was deemed necessary because of inciting statements by the leaders of some political parties. He also urged citizens of the country to shun violence and politics of bitterness during and after elections.
A former Secretary General of the United Nations, Dr Kofi Anan, who was also present at the event, told the presidential candidates to be aware that their responsibilities included seeking solutions to Nigeria’s problems and avoiding inflammatory statement.
The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Atahiru Jega, also pledged to conduct the elections on a level playing field for all the parties and asked the political parties to make an undertaking to abide by the rules.