Somtochukwu

The Independent National Electoral Commission says the candidates participating in the September 19 governorship election in Edo State will sign a peace accord on Tuesday.

The Chairman of INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, made this known during a briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja on Thursday.

Mahmood also said about 17,000 ad hoc staff would be recruited for the election, noting that the PTF guidelines and safety measures would be strictly obeyed as the commission was going to operate a ‘no face mask, no voting policy’ at the poll.

The PUNCH had earlier reported that the electoral umpire released a list of 14 political parties and candidates that would contest the election.

Governor Godwin Obaseki, who is seeking re-election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party; and Osagie Ize-Iyamu of the All Progressives Congress are major contenders in the election.

Worried about the recent spate of violence in the state amid the ongoing electioneering, the Oba of Benin, Ewuare II, held a peace meeting with the two candidates last week.

When asked to give his assurances that there would be no violence in the state, the INEC boss, said, “I can only assure you of the efforts that we are making to ensure there is no violence.

“A couple of weeks ago, we were in Benin City. What did we go there to do? First to speak with officials of INEC. And I invited the electoral officers from all the 18 local government areas to our meeting.

“Thereafter, I had an engagement with the representatives of all the security agencies in Benin, from the Police to the SSS to the Security and Civil Defence, even the Prison Service and the Fire Service.

“We had an enegagement with the State COVID-19 Response in Benin… And then, we visited his majesty, the Oba of Benin. At that meeting, his majesty promised us that he was going to invite some of the candidates in the election and speak to them on the importance of peaceful conduct and I am happy to say that he did that.

“But in addition, I carried a message to his royal majesty from the National Peace Committee led by our respectable former head of state, General Abdulsalami Abubakar.

“The National Peace Committee just like INEC and every conscientious Nigerian is also concerned about the fear of violence in elections. The National Peace Committee is organising the signing of a high-profile peace accord in Benin on Tuesday next week.

“So, we leave for Benin this weekend. We will hold a stakeholders’ meeting with all the candidates and parties, civil society groups, the media, everybody, on Monday. Then, on Tuesday, we will now witness the signing of the peace accord.

“I hope that these efforts that we are making will lead to the kind of outcome that we are talking about.”

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