President Muhammadu Buhari, at exactly 4:26pm, signed the National
Peace Accord Agreement for a peaceful conduct of the 2019 elections,
assuring that he will uphold the highest standard of conduct.
This was as he charged the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC)
and the security agencies to put nation first in the discharge of their
duties at the polls in 2019.
President Buhari was accompanied by the National Chairman of the
ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, to
sign the document.
The agreement mandates that the candidates agree “to run issue-based campaigns at national, state and local government levels.
“In, this, we pledge to refrain from campaigns that will involve
religious incitements, ethnic or tribal profiling, both by ourselves and
by all agents in our names.
“To refrain from making or causing to make in our names and that of
our party, any public statements, pronouncements, declarations or
speeches that have the capacity to incite any form of violence, before,
during and after the elections;
“To commit ourselves and political parties to the monitoring of the
adherence to this Accord by a National Peace Committee made up of
respected statesmen and women, traditional and religious leaders
“To support all institutions of government including INEC and the security agencies to act and be seen to act with impartially.
“To forcefully and publicly speak out against provocative utterances a
d oppose all acts of electoral violence whether perpetuated by our
supporters and/or opponents.”
Meanwhile, the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has said he did not receive any invitation to be part of Tuesday’s National Peace Accord Agreement.
The National Peace Committee said at the ceremony, that invitations
were sent to all 73 presidential candidates out of the 91 registered
political parties in the country.