President Jonathan, Buhari Renew Peace Accord Commitment

The two major contenders in Saturday’s Presidential elections, President Goodluck Jonathan of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Thursday morning signed a commitment to peaceful polls in furtherance of the earlier Abuja Accord.

The meeting was facilitated by the Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar’s led National Peace Committee on 2015 Elections.

It would be recalled that on January 14, 2015 both men alongside other presidential candidates had signed what is now famously known as the Abuja Accord, and Thursday they renewed the accord to reassure the world and make Nigerians understand that this country is more important than their own aspirations and that people should live and reflect the ideals of this.

Abubakar in his remarks, said the peace committee was set up after Abuja Accord signed by both President Jonathan and Gen. Buhari.

According to him, “this committee has been working round the clock to assist the parties and Nigerians to ensure that there is peace and harmony before, during and after the elections this time around.

Mr. President was kind enough to see us yesterday (Wednesday), one he is the President of the country and secondly he is a contestant. And this morning Gen. Buhari despite his late arrival last night or early arrival this morning, was kind enough to meet with this committee.

In essence all the meetings were held to brief them the current situation of the country and what we expect of them as stakeholders and as presidential candidates.

I want to thank both the President and Gen. Buhari for finding time to meet with the committee. And I want to thank both party chairmen for the support received in trying to send this message of peace.

I’m happy both parties, the contestants are committed to free and fair elections, free of violence. And this morning a document to reiterate their commitment for this peaceful and for the forthcoming elections.

The wordings of the accord was read by Bishop Kukah:

The text of the accord are as follows:

Renewal of our pledges to peaceful elections

Joint statement issued by His Excellency, President Goodluck Jonathan and Major General Muhammad Buhari on Thursday, March 26, 2015 ahead of the 2015 presidential elections

You may recall that on 14th January 2015, both of us, along with nine other party leaders signed what has now come to be known as the Abuja Accord. The substance of that Accord was our commitment to free, fair and credible elections in our dear country.

In the Accord, we agreed to, among other things, run an issue-based campaign and pledged that our electoral campaigns will not involve any religious incitement, ethnic or tribal profiling, both by ourselves and all agents acting in our names.

Now that the campaigns have come to an end, we meet today to renew our pledge for peaceful elections. We therefore call on all fellow citizens of our dear country, and our party supporters, to refrain from violence or any acts that may in any way jeopardise our collective vision of a free, fair and credible election.

In addition, we call on INEC and all security agencies to ensure strict adherence to their constitutional roles. We also pledge to respect the outcome of free, fair and credible elections.

Today, we again renew our commitment to a united, democratic and prosperous Nigeria. We want to all Nigerians to stand together at this critical phase of our nation’s history.

Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria. God bless you all.

Signed by Jonathan, Buhari and Abdusalam Abubakar.