As electioneering campaigns for the 2023 general elections kicked off yesterday, the National League of Veteran Journalists (NALVEJ) in Kwara State, has enjoined politicians to shun violence.
The league, in a statement by its chairman, Alh Tunde Akanbi and publicity secretary, Alh Abdullahi Olesin, urged candidates of various political parties and other stakeholders to play the game according to its rules.
It enjoined them not overheat the polity through unguarded statements capable of threatening the fragile peace of the country.
NALVEJ advised the politicians to shun divisive tendencies in their campaigns but rather embrace issue- based campaign.
It also cautioned them against employing the youths for thuggery and disruptive activities during their campaign programmes.
The league, therefore, urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure a strict monitoring of the activities of the political parties and their candidates during this period and apply the necessary sanctions on anyone that run fouls of the provision of the Electoral Act and other extant rules guiding the conduct of the election.
NALVEJ also admonished media houses and journalists across the country to ensure fairness in the reportage and coverage of elections activities.
He urged them to resist any attempt by the politicians to use them as an instrument of destruction against opponents, adding that they should exhibit a high sense of patriotism in the discharge of their onerous duties.
