Abdulsalam, Kukah preach peace ahead of Ondo gov poll

A former military Head of State, Gen Abdusalami Abubakar (retd.) on Friday led the National Peace Committee to Ondo State ahead of the November 16 governorship election. He called on stakeholders to allow peace to reign before, during and after the election.

All the candidates and chairmen of the political parties participating in the poll were in attendance and signed the peace accord form at the International Event and Cultural Centre, Akure, the state capital.

The National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu; the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Mathew Kukah; the representative of the Inspector General of Police, Mr Kayode Egbetokun, and other dignitaries witnessed the signing.

Speaking at the event, Abubakar urged the party leaders and candidates to accept the outcome of the election as long as it is adjudged to be free, fair, and credible, and to seek legitimate and peaceful means of addressing any concern that may arise thereafter.

He said, “I want to call on all stakeholders to work assiduously in their capacities to ensure that peace reigns supreme during this election and that the Ondo State off-cycle election sets a precedence for other off-cycle elections to emulate.

“While I commend INEC for the work done so far, I call on them to continuously live up to their responsibilities in ensuring that eligible voters exercise their franchise peacefully and that the remaining electoral processes are credible free, and fair.

“I must also extol the Nigeria Police Force and members of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security for maintaining peace and security in Ondo State.

“It has indeed remained one of the relatively peaceful states in the country.  I therefore urge them to remain resilient in averting any threats of violence and maintaining the peace in the state as we are only a few days away from the elections”

While calling on the people to shun votes trading, Abubakar charged other stakeholders to play the game according to the rules to make the election peaceful, free and fair.

In his address, Kukah appealed to all candidates to allow peace to reign, urging them to show good spirits of sportsmanship by accepting the outcome of the election in good faith.

The Chairman of INEC, Yakubu, reiterated that the commission was adequately ready for the poll, promising that there would be an improvement in the conduct of the forthcoming election.

Speaking, Egbetokun who was represented by the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Sylvester Alabi, expressed the readiness of the force for the off-cycle election, disclosing that a total of 34,657 would be deployed for the election.

According to Egbetokun, the personnel to be deployed would comprise 15,732 conventional police who would be required for the 3,933 polling units and voting points in the state.

“A detailed operation order for the election has been prepared with adequate police personnel to be deployed. The Nigeria Police will deploy a total of 34,657 personnel to the polling units, wards/LGA collation centers as well as other strategic locations.

“It is expected that four police personnel will be deployed to each polling unit, which then implies that 15,732 conventional police personnel will be required for the 3,933 polling units and voting points in the state,” Egbetokun stated.