Political parties and candidates set to participate in the forthcoming governorship election in Ondo State have signed a peace accord.
The signing took place on Friday at the International Culture and Event Centre in Akure for the exercise slated to hold on November 16.
Speaking at the event, Mahmood Yakubu, chair of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), told political parties and candidates that their signatures on the peace accord document alone will not guarantee a peaceful election.
“Your commitment to its implementation is critical. Therefore, as you sign the peace accord, you should commit yourselves to its implementation and pass the message to your supporters at all levels for compliance,” he said.
He said the commission had taken measures to address election day challenges, especially the perennial challenge of logistics.
“Over the last four days, I have engaged with our own officials, security agencies, and transport service providers here in Ondo State to assess our readiness and perfect our arrangements for the movement of over 17,000 ad hoc and regular officials as well as large quantities of materials to 4,154 voting and collation locations (3,933 polling units, 203 Ward and 18 LGA collation centres),” he said.
“In the case of Ondo state, this task is to be accomplished by boat in the two riverine local government areas of Ese Odo and Ilaje, and by a combination of trucks, four-wheel vehicles and motorcycles in respect of the mainland areas of the state.
“You should therefore expect to see a remarkable improvement in Election Day logistics. Voters in Ondo State should also expect to see similar improvement in result management.”
On his part, the inspector general of the Nigeria Police Force, represented by Sylvester Abiodun, deputy inspector general of police (DIG), said over 36,000 officers have been deployed to secure all 18 LGAs.
He said this effort will be supplemented by officers from other security agencies, totaling 43,157 personnel.
Abdulsalam Abubakar, chair of the national peace committee (NPC), commended members of the inter-agency consultative committee on election security (ICCES) for maintaining peace and security in Ondo state.
He urged politicians who signed the agreement to fully commit themselves and their parties to the letter and spirit of the accord.
“Shun violence and intimidation, and remember that as politicians you must demonstrate the spirit of sportsmanship, as that is a key trait of good leadership,” he said.
