The National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), Lokoja chapter, Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), civil society organizations and other stakeholders have called on political actors to play the game by the rule and shun violence in the forthcoming general elections.
Chairman of JNI, Ambassador Usman Bello said peace is key to the development of any society and called on all the political parties to conduct themselves decently during the 2023 general election.
Ambassador Bello made this known during the peace accord signing by candidates vying for elective office in Lokoja local government area in Lokoja on Tuesday.
The programme was organized by the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), in partnership with Renaissance Care and Empowerment Foundation (RECEF) and Initiative for Grassroot Advancement in Nigeria (INGRA).
The Kogi West senatorial candidates of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Young Progressives Party (YPP), Barr. Abdulrahman Ndakwo Tanko and Ibitomi Vance Ayodele respectively were among politicians who signed the peace pact.
Umar Farouk Bakabe, the House of Representatives candidate of African Democratic Congress (ADC) for Lokoja/Kogi federal constituency and others participated in the programme with a promise to conduct themselves peacefully during the coming polls.
Earlier, in his welcome address, the Executive Director of RECEF, Ambassador Idris Ozovehe Muraina, said it is unarguable that youths will decide who represent them in the next dispensation.
He urged youth to speak with their numbers at the polls.
Muraina noted that some politicians believed that they can always get into political offices without the contributions of the people they seek to represent, but youths can change the narrative through active participation in the electoral process.
He noted that with the deployment of BVAS, those preparing to deploy violence and other unacceptable behaviour to undermine the process will be disappointed.
