By Anne Azuka
Chairmen of various political parties and their candidates in Delta state have pledged to be of good behaviour and maintain peace before, during and after the forthcoming 2023 general elections in the country.
They made the pledge in Asaba while signing a ‘Peace Accord’ organised by the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) in collaboration with Centre for Peace and Environmental Justice(CEPEJ) and other Non Governmental Organizations(CSOs) in the state.
Speaking during the exercise, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Delta state, Rev. Monday Udoh Tom explained that part of the reasons for the peace accord was to forestall violence during and after the elections.
The belief is that violence is one of the factors that have militated against credible elections in Nigeria.
Hence, to nip this in the bud and run a violence-free-election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) assembled the political parties and their candidates to make a commitment to play by the rules.
Rev. Udoh Tom expressed belief that the peace accord would enable BVAS to give a boost to the credibility of the 2023 elections.
INEC REC who assured eligible voters of peaceful elections, warned that any defaulter during the elections would be arrested by the law enforcement agents after the elections.
Also speaking, the State Director National Orientation Agency(NOA), Mr. Chris Anyapuine averred that no meaningful development could be achieved under violence, acrimony, among others.
Anyapuine thanked the political parties and their actors for coming out in their numbers to sign the peace accord, appealing to electorates and all Nigerians to kindly embrace peace.
According to NOA State boss, violence does not mean good for the development of any nation.
He equally, appeal to all NGOs to help INEC to achieve goal, adding ”say no to violence”, “no vote buying”, and let the peace accord yield its fruit.
Other peace oriented organizations such as CEPEJ admonished political parties to shun vote buying and advise their followers to play by the rules of the game.
In an interview shortly after the Signing of the Peace Accord, the Executive Director of CEPEJ, Comrade Sheriff Mulade assured that the political parties are ready for the peace accord.
He said they were ready to support INEC to actualise a peaceful election devoid of violence, stressing “From the interactions and discussions, we can see that they are committed to the peace process. Since the campaigns began, you can see some level of peace in Delta state”.
“The peace accord is like a constitution, so they must abide by it. It is a binding document on them.”
According to Mulade: “The essence of this exercise is to have that unity and understanding to build on the existing peace in the state.
“As the general elections draw near, there is need to work with relevant parties and candidates to ensure there is peace as the parties go about campaigning. They should work towards a peaceful society.
“Without peace there cannot be election and the politicians cannot run a chaotic society. We need that understanding with the electoral body and the candidates, that’s why we are doing this”, he stressed.
