…as PDP declines the signing
From David Onuoja, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has urged Political Parties and their Candidates in the forthcoming election to hold unto the implementation of the terms and conditions of the Peace Accord signed in Benin, Edo State Capital.
INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, stated this in Benin, Edo state while coordinating the Peace Accord signing in preparation to the September 21, gubernatorial election in the state.
According to him, “I appealed to political parties and candidates to note that it is not your signatures on the peace document that will guarantee peaceful election. It is your commitment to its implementation that is critical.
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“Therefore, as you sign the Peace Accord, commit yourselves to the implementation and terms of the accord and pass the message to your supporters at all levels for compliance.
“This is the best way to honour the effort and sacrifice of the Chairman and members of the National Peace Committee (NPC).
“The first Peace Accord outside Abuja was signed on Tuesday 15th September 2020 here in Benin City ahead of the last Governorship election held on 19th September 2020.
“Happily, political parties and candidates adhered to their commitments under the terms of the Peace Accord and the election was held peacefully in spite of the tension during the pre-election campaign activities.
“For us as the election management body, I want to assure political parties and candidates that we will continue to play our part according to the law and best practice as articulated in the clauses of the National Peace Accord that we are about to commit ourselves to”, he declared.
During the signing ceremony, the Chairman of the NPC, Gen. Abdulsalmi Abubakar rtd, Archbishop of Sokoto Diocese, Mathhew Hassan Kukah, Inspector General of Police, The INEC Chairman, other Members of ICCES, Religious Leaders, Civil Society Organisations, the Media and Other invited guests were all present.
However, it was gathered that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), declined from the Peace Accord signing. According to its state chairman, the decline was due to the petition it had written earlier on the issue.
