Parties sign peace accord ahead of Benue LG poll

Three of the five political parties expected to participate in Saturday’s local government election in Benue State signed a peace accord on Monday.

The political parties are the All Progressives Congress; the Peoples Democratic Party; and the Labour Party.

However, representatives of the African Action Congress; the All Progressives Grand Alliance; the New Nigeria Peoples Party; and the Zenith Labour Party were absent from the peace parley organised by the Commissioner of Police, Hassan Yabanet.

Speaking at the peace parley held at the Officers’ Mess opposite Aper Aku Stadium in Makurdi, the Commissioner of Police, who was accompanied by other heads of security agencies in the state, expressed the readiness to provide adequate security before, during, and after the Saturday LG election.

He stated, “We are all here as heads of security agencies to assure our readiness to provide adequate security for the local government election holding on Saturday.

“We have met with the Chairman of the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission, and we have promised to provide adequate security for a free and fair election. All sister security agencies are working in unison.”

The Chairman of the Benue State Electoral Commission, Telumun Tombowua, reiterated his commitment to conducting a free and fair election, adding that the commission had taken custody of both sensitive and non-sensitive materials.

He disclosed that the commission would begin dispatching non-sensitive materials to all 23 local governments starting Monday, while the sensitive materials would be distributed on Friday.

Tombowua noted that only the APC and PDP fielded candidates for all 276 councillorship positions and 23 chairmanship positions in the election, while other parties fielded candidates for varying numbers of positions.

Representatives of the Labour Party and the PDP, Ibrahim Idoko and Gabriel Obekpa, respectively, urged the BSIEC Chairman to uphold his commitment to a fair election, stating that candidates participating in the election had invested substantial resources in the process, thus necessitating a transparent and credible election.

The PDP Deputy Chairman, Obekpa, warned BSIEC against compromising the election, stating, “It will not augur well for SIEC if the election is compromised.”