UPDATED: Folarin Absent As Makinde, Adelabu Others Guber Candidates Sign Peace Pact| Eaglessightnews

Candidates of various political parties participating in the 2023 governorship including the incumbent governor, Seyi Makinde of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bayo Adelabu of Accord, Popoola Josiah of New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) have signed a peace pact towards a violence-free 2023 elections.

The ceremony held at the Police headquarters, Oyo state Command, at the instance of the election Peace Accord Committee chaired by former governor of the state and the Otun Olubadan of Ibadanland, High Chief Rashid Adewolu Ladoja.

One of the main contending political candidates, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Senator Teslim Folarin was absent from the event but his deputy governorship candidate, Okunlola Oluwafemi, was present to sign the peace accord.

The Oyo state Commissioner of Police, CP Adebowale Williams, in his address noted that without peace there can not be an election urging all candidates to maintain peaceful conducts and eschew behaviors capable of truncating the relative peace in the state.

The police boss maintain that the signing of the peace accord by all candidates of the various political parties marks the beginning of interagency security operation towards ensuring the attainment of peaceful, credible and transparent election.

The candidates were urged to deliberately commit themselves to peaceful conducts before, during, and after the general elections in compliance with the electoral Act as amended.

According to content of the signed undertaken as contained in the peace accord, political candidates who fail to fully comply by the provisions of the peace accord or conduct themselves in such manner or manners that is or are capable of truncating the relative peace in the state before, during and after the general elections shall be duly prosecuted according to the provisions of the Electoral Act as amended.

Chairman of the election peace accord committee, former governor of Oyo state who is the Otun Olubadan of Ibadanland, High Chief Rashid Ladoja in his brief address admonished the various candidates who he described as ‘omoluabi’ to remember politics is merely a game that must not be played in the spirit of sportsmanship at all time.

Maintaining that elections will always come and go, Ladoja said personal relationships will always be what is left to uphold when elections are over urging the candidates to exchange contacts with each other in the spirit of friendship if they hadn’t done so.

“I beg you all, please, let us go about the campaign peacefully before, during, and after elections. After all, all of you are ‘omoluabis’, elections will always come and go, and in fact, after elections, you will still be friends. So, please, conduct yourselves and your followers in ways and manners that portray the try spirit of’omoluabis’ because ‘omoluabis’ know what is right and what’s not right to do.” Ladoja said.

The Oyo state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr Rahman Adeniran Tella, who noted that despite series of voters sensitization and awareness campaigns by INEC, over seven hundred thousand Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) are yet to be collected.

While urging political candidates to sensitize their followers and supporters on the need to collect their PVCs in the ongoing PVC collection nationwide, he assured that there is no going back on the INEC Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS), which has already been tested, saying arrangements are already concluded to deploy it for use in the 2023 general elections.

Others who spoke at the all important ceremony include clerics of Islamic and Christian faiths, Director of the Department of State Security Services (DSS) E.C. Okoye. In there separate submissions, affirmed the need for all political players to play by the rules and engage on issue based campaigns to avoid inciting of violence.

The DSS boss specifically noted that security is everybody’s business and as such all political actors including the electorates must ensure the relative peace in the state is not jeopardized on account of political campaigns while urging the candidates to always caution their followers and supporters from engaging in violent conducts and behavior in order to have a peaceful and credible polls come 2023.

Addressing journalists shortly after the ceremony, Governor Makinde of PDP expressed delight at the development calling it first of it’s kind in the state since the Abuja peace accord. He added that the peace accord has once again reaffirmed that the people remain the employers of all holding various public offices.

In his remarks, Adelabu told journalists that the peace accord is a laudable development that will not only guide politicians before, during, and after the election but will also create confidence in the outcome of the election process.

who spoke to journalists expressed confidence and optimism that the peace accord will foster a more civil disposition by candidates and their party supporters towards peaceful conduct during and after the election.