Former Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan has charge all presidential candidates, their promoters and supporters to exercise restraints and seek to run their campaigns based on issues that affect our people
Jonathan gave the advice in his goodwill message at National Peace Accord signing ceremony on Thursday in Abuja.
He urged all of the stakeholders to continue to share in the prayers and enthusiasm of the Peace Committee for a peaceful, free and fair elections in the nation.
The former President also commended the resilience and commitment of members of the National Peace Committee to peace in our country and their efforts towards ensuring peaceful elections in Nigeria.
“I extend my felicitations to His Excellency Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar and other members of the National Peace Committee for putting together this Peace Accord ceremony, ahead of the 2023 general elections.
“I commend the resilience and commitment of members of the National Peace Committee to peace in our country and their efforts towards ensuring peaceful elections in Nigeria.
“Let me also offer my warm greetings to all the presidential candidates, other candidates contesting other levels of elections and fellow compatriots for their patriotism and interest in the peace of our country.
“I urge all of us to continue to share in the prayers and enthusiasm of the Peace Committee for a peaceful, free and fair elections in our nation. The task of ensuring peaceful elections in 2023 is our collective responsibility.
“Although we are all key stakeholders, I must say that it behoves on the candidates and the leaders of the various parties to lead the process for peaceful elections in our country.
“We are at a critical stage in our national life where we have no choice but to promote national cohesion, love and hope, in order to make the desired progress.
“We cannot afford to continue to play politics of bitterness and division along ethnic and religious lines. This is because such kind of politics portends great danger to our unity, growth and the sustenance of our democracy.
“We have to be mindful of the destructive impact of hate speech, fake news and mindless propaganda, especially in a clime where the fabric of unity and stability still needs to be strengthened.
“I charge the candidates, their promoters and supporters to exercise restraint and seek to run their campaigns based on issues that affect our people. They should, by all means, avoid needless attacks on personalities and use of abusive language for those are the elements that cause chaos and crisis during elections.
“Political stability and growth of democracy in any country are usually measured by the quality of elections. In this regard, we expect our democracy to be consolidated in such a way that our electoral processes will be seen to record incremental progress at the end of every election cycle.
“Unfortunately, this has not been the case, as there are signs of inconsistencies with the progress we make in our elections. As citizens of this great country, we all have the responsibility to redirect our steps, strive to work harder and do the right thing to avoid the stagnation of our democracy.
“Since I left office in 2015, I have been involved in the process of promoting democracy across Africa. My experience as an election observer, having led observation missions to many countries, is that many African countries are working hard to improve their elections and deepen the roots of democracy in their land.
“Many of us will recall that elections held recently in Kenya, Ghana and The Gambia and I am pleased that peaceful outcomes were recorded in those countries.
“In 2023, I expect our country to raise the bar for credible and transparent elections by ensuring that our electoral processes are peaceful, free and fair.
“Once again, I urge our candidates to lead the charge and strive to make our electioneering issue-based, clean and violence-free. I thank you all,” he said.
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