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By Nasir Kura
Former Head of State and chairman of the National Peace Committee General Abdulsalami Abubakar (retired) said on Wednesday that comments emanating from mosques and churches ahead of the forthcoming elections are inciting and should be stopped immediately.
Abubakar said this at the signing of a peace accord by President Muhammadu Buhari and other presidential candidates at the International Conference Centre in Abuja.
He said religious leaders, politicians, electorate and all stakeholders must desist from making inciting comments as a panacea for peaceful electoral process.
“Don’t make anything to make a bad situation worse,” he said.
He said elections would not hold in the absence of peaceful atmosphere, and that governance after election would not be peaceful without a peaceful environment.
The former Head of State said candidates for elective positions must commit themselves to peaceful election process in three stages – pre-election, election period and post-election period.
Also speaking, former Head of State General Yakubu Gowon (retired) called on candidate to tell their supporters to be peaceful during the elections so that there won’t be need for foreign observers in the future because the right conduct would have been assured.
In her remarks, the Secretary General of the Commonwealth Ms Patricia Scotland said millions of people across the world are praying for Nigeria and its people for the peaceful conduct of the forthcoming election.
She said Nigerians should not fail the world by ensuring a credible and transparent election.
“It is a burden that Nigerian leaders gathered here today carry. We call on their party, supporters and public to follow their lead. Elections will come and go, but this great Nigeria will remain,” she said said.
In his goodwill message, convener of the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Roo Mr Clement Nwankwo said the forthcoming elections is an opportunity for the country to get it right.
He called on security agencies to be neutral because it is not the responsibility of state institutions to determine who winners of elections.
“Every one including the politicians agreed on the need for a free, fair and credible election. The Nigerian people will go out and vote and we hope their votes will count,” he said.
