Joseph Ochogwu, the Director-General, Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR), has called for violent-free elections in Imo, Bayelsa and Kogi governorship polls scheduled to hold on Saturday.
Ochogwu said this on Friday in a statement signed by Esther Ndukwe Media officer of IPCR.
According to him, the off-cycle elections present peculiar challenges because of violence in some of the states involved in the exercise.
“During the campaigns, pockets of violence were noticed. The attitude of some political stakeholders to unleash violence should be stopped, because it has the capacity to distort the credibility of an election’’, Ochogwu.
“The key actors in this election have the responsibility of ensuring that the election is violent free.
“They also have the responsibility of ensuring that people come out to vote to avoid voter apathy.
“The key actors in the elections should ensure that the credibility of the elections is not questioned. They should play by the rules.
“The Army, Police and other security agencies have promised to ensure that the elections are violence free, but the stakeholders in the election should on their part ensure that their supporters maintain peace during and after the election,” he said.
Ochogwu also said no fewer than 18 political parties taking part in the election in Imo state have signed a peace accord,
“Signing of peace accords alone cannot guarantee peace. The actors involved in the elections should ensure that the peace accord signed is followed with action.
“The Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution calls for violent free, rule based elections, so that the credibility of the elections is not questioned.
“The key actors should play by the rules. Election is not do-or-die affair, you have to be alive to be in politics. Politics is not done in isolation.
“The key actors should have it at the back of their mind that nothing can be achieved with violence,” the D-G said.
