Candidates of political parties taking part in the 2019 elections in Adamawa State have signed an accord to conduct themselves peacefully.
Hon Umaru Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Chief Emmanuel Bello of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) were among 13 candidates who personally signed the accord, while some others, including incumbent Governor Mohammed Jibrilla Bindow, sent representatives.
By the conditions of the accord, representatives cannot sign for their principals, but the principals can sign the accord at a later date.
The peace accord signing ceremony took place under the Inter-agency Consultative Committee on Electoral Security (ICCES), and was coordinated jointly by the Adamawa State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Kassim Gaidam and state Police Commissioner, Abdullahi Yerima.
The resident electoral commissioner had, while reading his introductory speech, explained that the peace accord was intended to assure a violence-free electoral process, and urged the governorship candidates to abide by the terms of the accord.
The peace accord requires the governorship candidates to, in general terms, embrace the ideals of peace before, during and after the 2019 elections. They are expected to be sportsmanly, avoid winner-takes-all mindset, shun hate speech, discourage supporters from violent acts, and avoid use of youths for thuggery.
The peace accord signing ceremony took place Thursday afternoon at the City Green Hotel in Jimeta, Yola, where the police commissioner clarified, in a closing remark, that 13 governorship candidates signed the accord, while 10 sent apologies that they had travelled and would sign the accord when they return to town.
Twenty-nine candidates, 25 men and four women, are participating in the 2019 governorship election in Adamawa State.
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