A non-governmental organisation under the aegis of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has charged political stakeholders in Benue to initiate peace accord that will bring together the political gladiators as well as political parties to agree on a peace pact that will bind them to upholding the peaceful conduct of the election through-out the electioneering period.
The executive director of CISLAC, Auwal Ibrahim, urged the state to emulate the National Peace Accord, as well as the various peace agreements entered into by several states of the country to ensure a peaceful conduct of election in the State.
The executive director, who disclosed this in Makurdi during a stakeholders’ sensitisation summit to draw the attention to election induced violence towards 2023 election in Benue, emphasized that doing so will guarantee the participation of citizens, especially women, the elderly and people living with disabilities.
Represented by the senior programme manager, CISLAC, Solomon Adoga, also said, a peaceful election will guarantee the overall conduct of a free, fair, credible and participatory elections, especially in places where insecurity have prevailed, the need to guarantee citizens of a peaceful election becomes even more imperative.
According to him, “It is in line with this that it is expected that Benue State would initiate the process which brings together the political gladiators and the political parties to agree to a pact which binds them to upholding the peaceful conduct of the election through-out the electioneering period. Drawing from these experiences, stakeholders have see the need to organize and mobilize for peace agreements.
“The executive director cited the example of 2015 general elections, when the political climate was at a burning degree, the National Peace Accord stepped in, to commit the presidential parties to peace agreements, with some of the provisions of the agreement being the commitment to prevail on their respective supporters to maintain peace in their activities, and the aftermath of that election brought about one of the most historic democratic power transitions in Africa.
“Since then, the process has continued to be improved upon, with the political parties now brought into the frame, while states are also adopting same measure at that level”.
While we note that stakeholders in Benue have been working towards peace agreement in the state, we request for expedited action and pledge our commitment to supporting the process with the view to contribute our quota towards a peaceful conduct of the 2023 election in Benue.
