Abia Guber Candidates Sign Peace Accord, Police Promises To Be Professional

Abia State governorship candidates on Thursday signed a peace accord in the presence of the State Commissioner of Police (CP), Mustapha Bala, ahead of the March 18 gubernatorial and the house of assembly elections.

This is as the Commissioner of Police assured residents that security agents will ensure a hitch-free election come next Saturday. Bala assured that his men had been trained to monitor the civic exercise professionally.

He promised that his command officers would work in synergy with other sister agencies to maintain law and order throughout the election period.

The police boss, however, tasked Abians to conduct themselves responsibly while voting for the candidates of their choice.

Naija News understands that guber candidates and Chairmen of different political parties in the state were all in attendance at the peace accord signing held today at the Police Officers’ Mess in Umuahia.

During the event, CP Bala explained that the peace agreement was created to ensure peaceful Governorship and House of Assembly elections in Abia State.

In their separate contributions, Abia State Administration Secretary of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Clement Oha, promised that the Commission would deliver credible elections to Abians.

INEC assured that modalities had been put in place to ensure a hitch-free election even as it acknowledged that next week’s polls would be more contentious than the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly exercise.

Oha said: “There were substantial peaceful elections during Presidential and National Assembly elections in Abia State, but this election is more contentious because its like neighbour-to-neighbour. It is a grassroots affair, but we are prepared to deliver credible elections.”

Speaking on behalf of other parties’ Chairmen, the Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC, Ceakay Igara, appealed to INEC to ensure free and fair polls.

The IPAC Chairman also advised guber candidates to control their teeming supporters’ behaviour and maintain the spirit of sportsmanship during and after the Match 18 elections.

Administering the Oath of agreement on the guber candidates, the Officer in Charge of Legal Department, Abia State Police Command, Gladys Imekhun, cautioned the candidates against inciting violence but to maintain a high level of peace before, during and after the elections.

In his brief remarks, the candidate of Action Peoples Party, APP, Mascot Uzor Kalu, charged INEC to ensure the early arrival of election materials on March 18 to avoid a repeat of the February 25 episode.

Speaking on behalf of other candidates, the guber candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Bishop Sunday Ndukwo Onuoha, praised the Nigeria Police, Abia State Command, for the peace accord initiative.

The Methodist Bishop, Onuoha, on behalf of others, promised to behave peacefully and to eschew violent utterances and other inimical conducts.

The candidates who participated in the peace signing event included Okey Ahaiwe of PDP, Ikechi Emenike of APC, Bishop Sunday Onuoha of ADC, Ukpai Iroh of NNPP, Mascot Uzor Kalu of APP, Enyinnaya Nwafor of YPP among others.