Less than 10 days before the 2023 general elections, governorship candidates of political parties in Rivers State, will sign the third peace accord, to give assurances of peaceful and violent-free polls in the state.
The signing of the peace accord which is being championed by the Rivers Debate Group (RDG), will come up on Sunday, February 19, 2023, will coincide with the commencement of the debate for selected governorship candidates in the state.
The third peace pact is coming close to five months after governorship candidates in the state signed the first and second accords in the presence of the Concerned Rivers Initiative (CRI) and the Commissioner of Police, Okon Effiong Okon, respectively.
Addressing journalists in Port Harcourt yesterday, RDG leader and president of Rivers Entrepreneurs and Investment Forum (REIF), Ibifiri Bobmanuel, said the peace accord signing ceremony and debate will be witnessed by members of the National Peace Committee and the international community.
Bobmanuel said, “Now, the debate, the D-Day is on Sunday, February 19, 2023. All plans are on top gear and we are just waiting for that Sunday. All the candidates have indicated their willingness to be on that platform on that day.
“We will be discussing the issues this time because the whole focus and vision behind Rivers debate has always been on issues rather than violence.
“When you leave the space for issues, the only other space you have many be for violence, rancour and all of that. We think Rivers State is more important for us to allow it to fly in that direction.
“In this event, we are going to have representatives of the National Peace Committee that will come and be part of this whole process. And we will have the compliment of representatives of the international community.
“Now, on that day, we ate going to get the candidates to sign a peace accord because it is very important that they sign the peace accord.”
