Edo election: APC, 5 other political parties sign peace accord
- A peace accord has been signed in Edo ahead of the governorship election in the state
- The accord was signed by six political parties actively participating in the election
- The peace meeting was organised by the Conference of Non-Governmental Organisations
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Six political parties in Edo have signed a peace accord pledging to eschew violence before, during and after the forthcoming governorship election in the state.
The parties are the All Progressives Congress (APC), Zenith Labour Party, All Progressives Grand Alliance, Young Peoples Party, African Democratic Congress and the Allied Peoples Movement.
The peace meeting tagged “Stakeholders peace accord” was organised by the Conference of Non-Governmental Organisations (CONGOS).
Source: Twitter
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President of CONGOS, Comrade Daisy Abiola, said the event became crucial due to the apprehension in some quarters that the election would be violent.
She said, “the candidates are to sign the peace accord documents and the signing of the peace accord will help our people psychologically by generating the necessary assurance that the problems are recognised, and there are actions being taken to curtail violence.”
On her part, state director of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mrs Grace Ease advised all participants to observe all COVID-19 preventive measures during the election.
Delivering a paper at the event, a don, in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineer, Ambrose Ali University, AAU), Ekpoma, Professor Robert Ehimen Okonigene, said the reason why there is chaos and violence in elections in Nigeria is that the political gladiators always encouraged it.
Ehimen said politics is not a dirty game, stressing that it is the people playing it that make it dirty.
He disclosed that politics is a game established by the constitution and should be played responsibly by the actors.
Meanwhile, a veteran election observer, Comrade Ezenwa Nwagwu has stated that Nigerians' attitude to elections has something to do with the kind of security positioning that eventually happens “because election crimes are trivialized.”
Nwagwu, the executive director of Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa and chairman, Partners for Electoral Reforms in Nigeria, made the comment when he appeared on a Channels Television programme, Politics Today, on Thursday, September 3.
Responding to a question about fake policemen as an election security problem, Nwagwu stated that it’s an indictment on security agencies if they are unable to fish out those perpetrating crimes committed during elections.
Legit.ng had previously reported that the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Mohammed Adamu, ordered commissioners of police across the country to immediately initiate appropriate actions to identify, isolate, disarm, arrest and prosecute any individual(s) or group(s) in possession of prohibited firearms.
The IGP said those arming themselves with prohibited firearms and weapons in contravention of the provisions of the Firearms Act, will pose a serious threat to national security if left unchecked.
“The directive has become necessary against the backdrop of the deliberate arming and movement of political thugs and other criminal elements across the country,” Police spokesman, Frank Mba said in a statement.
Edo election: Yiaga lists 13 potential flashpoints of violence | Legit TV
Source: Legit.ng
