Eighteen political parties on Friday signed a peace accord in Ondo State, pledging to promote a peaceful gubernatorial election and accept the results of the upcoming polls, provided they are deemed free and fair.
General Abdulsalam Abubakar, the chairman of the National Peace Committee, urged candidates and parties to uphold democratic tenets and reject vote trading.
He emphasised the importance of maintaining the prevailing peaceful atmosphere in the country.
In a remark, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, pointed out that no security incidents had been reported so far in the state.
He expressed optimism on continued peace, promised improved logistics on election day and encouraged parties to commit to the signed agreement.
Speaking, the Inspector General of the Nigeria Police Force, Kayode Egbetokun, represented by AIG Sylvester Abiodun, assured of readiness for the elections and disclosed the deployment of over 34,657 police officers to secure all 18 local government areas.
Egbetokun had on Thursday announced that 22,239 officers would be deployed to maintain security across the state before, during, and after the November 16 election.
He spoke through the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 17, Abiodun Asabi.
However on Friday, Egbetokun said, “A detailed Operation Order for the election has been prepared with adequate Police personnel to be deployed.
“The Nigeria Police will deploy a total of 34,657 personnel to the polling units, wards/LGA collation centers as well as other strategic locations. It is expected that Four (4) Police personnel will be deployed at each polling unit, which then implies that 15,732 conventional police personnel will be required for the 3,933 polling units and voting points in the State.
“This will be complemented by the Armed Forces, the Intelligence Security Agencies and other sister Security Agencies.
“A total of Eight thousand, five hundred (8,500) personnel from the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Correctional Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Federal Road Safety Corps and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency will be deployed to augment the Police strength.
“This will bring the total number of security personnel deployed for the election to 43,157.“
Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa commended the National Peace Committee’s efforts and pledged to uphold democracy and the peace accord.
He expressed hope that the peaceful atmosphere could be sustained during and after the elections, urging other parties to follow suit.
The peace accord is a crucial step towards ensuring a peaceful electoral process in Nigeria, building on previous successes in reducing election violence.
