Former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar and Chairman of the National Peace Committee (NPC) has appealed to candidates of the 17 political parties contesting the November 16th governorship election in Ondo State to accept the outcome of the exercise once it is credible, free and fair.
Abubakar made the appeal in Akure, the state capital, during the signing of the Peace Accord initiated by the National Peace Committee (NPC) on Friday.
Addressing the gathering, the former Head of State, urged politicians who signed the accord to fully commit themselves and their parties to the letter and spirit of the accord.
According to him, “You must shun violence and intimidation and remember that as politicians, you must demonstrate the spirit of sportsmanship, as that is a key trait of good leadership.”
While asking the candidates and their supporters to refrain from making statements that will incite violence within this period, especially after the declaration of results, Abubakar, said, “As citizens, you must also respect that only the INEC has the constitutional authority to announce the results. Therefore, it behooves the party leaders to ensure that they play a critical role in encouraging their supporters to refrain from making statements that will incite violence within this period, especially after the results.”
“I want to call on all stakeholders to work assiduously in their capacities to ensure that peace reigns supreme during this election and that the Ondo State off-cycle election sets a precedent for other off-cycle elections to emulate.
“I also urge the party leaders and candidates to accept the outcome of the elections as long as it is adjudged to be free, fair, and credible, and to seek legitimate and peaceful means of addressing any concern that may arise thereafter.”
Abubakar who however, commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), for the work done so far, called on the commission to continuously live up to their responsibilities in ensuring that eligible voters exercise their franchise peacefully and that the remaining electoral processes are credible and free, and fair.
Earlier, the National Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, assured the gathering that the commission had taken measures to address the Election Day challenges, ‘especially the perennial challenge of logistics.”
Mahmood said, “Over the last four days, I have engaged with our officials, security agencies, and transport service providers here in Ondo State to assess our readiness and perfect our arrangements for the movement of over 17,000 ad hoc and regular officials as well as large quantities of materials to 4,154 voting and collation locations (3,933 polling units, 203 Ward and 18 LGA collation centers).
“In the case of Ondo State, this task is to be accomplished by boat in the two riverine local government areas of Ese Odo and Ilaje, and by a combination of trucks, four-wheel vehicles, and motorcycles in respect of the mainland areas of the State.
“You should therefore expect to see a remarkable improvement in Election Day logistics. Voters in Ondo State should also expect to see a similar improvement in result management.”
Also, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun, disclosed that police will deploy a total of 34,657 personnel to the polling units, wards/LGA collation centers as well as other strategic locations during the election.
Represented by the DIG Abiodun Alabi, Egbetokun hinted that four “(4) Police personnel will be deployed at each polling unit, which then implies that 15,732 conventional police personnel will be required for the 3,933 polling units and voting points in the state.
“This will be complemented by the Armed Forces, the Intelligence Security Agencies, and other sister Security Agencies. A total of Eight thousand, five hundred (8,500) personnel from the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Correctional Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Federal Road Safety Corps, and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency will be deployed to augment the Police strength. This will bring the total number of security personnel deployed for the election to 43,157.”
Reacting, the state governor, Hon. Lucky Aiyedatiwa who noted that the state had been peaceful before this time during campaigns, promised that he would abide by the tenet of the peace accord.
“All stakeholders have been abiding by the rules of the game. I plead that they stay with the tenant of democracy. We will all abide by the tenet of the peaceful accord.
“Elections will come and go, but the state will remain. During the election, we should remain peaceful, and also after the election. “