By Friday Idachaba, Lokoja.
National Youth Council of Nigeria, (NYCN), in partnership with two Civil Society Organisations has obtained signatures from some political parties’ candidates in Kogi in a Peace Accord towards peaceful conduct the 2023 General Elections.
The Peace Accord, an initiative of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, (NYCN), Renaissance Care and Empowerment Foundation, (RECEF) and Initiative for Grassroot Advancement in Nigeria (INGRA) took place in Lokoja was aimed at ensuring lasting peace in the electoral process.
Ambassador Usman Bello, chairman of Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), Kogi chapter while speaking at the occasion described peace as key to the development of any human society.
He called on all the political parties to conduct themselves peacefully and ensure a peaceful electoral process before, during and after the 2023 general election in the country.
Amb. Bello however regretted that some of the political parties failed to honour this important occasion, towards finding lasting peace in the electoral process.
He urged the organizers to keep up the good job and not to be discouraged by the absence of some of the political parties.
In his welcome address, the Executive Director of RECEF; Ambassador Idris Ozovehe Muraina said noted that some politicians believed they could always get into political offices without the contributions of the people they seek to represent.
Amb. Bello said this would have been an opportunity for the candidates to sell themselves and their programme to the electorates but unfortunately they failed to utilize the opportunity.
“The refusal of some candidates to honour this all important exercise goes a long way to show the importance the candidates attached to the electorates.
The JNI chairman urged the people particularly the youth to speak with their numbers and maintained that it has become clear that the youths will decide who represent them in the next dispensation.
He noted that with the deployment of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), those preparing to deploy violence and other unacceptable behavior to undermine the process will be disappointed.
The representative of the National Orientation Agency, (NOA), Hassan Garba, stress the need for relevant stakeholders to foster a synergy with the youths with a view to ensuring peaceful 2023 polls
Candidates who signed the Peace Accord include Abdulraman Ndakwo Tanko, senatorial candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) for Kogi West.
Others are Vance Ayodele, senatorial candidate of the Young People’s Party (YPP) for Kogi west and Umar Farouk Bakabe, House of Reps candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for Lokoja/Kogi Federal Constituency. (Ends)