Fourteen of the 18 registered political parties in Nigeria signed an agreement at the INEC office in Yenagoa on Friday to conduct themselves peacefully in Bayelsa during the coming elections.
Some of the parties that signed the peace pact were Action Alliance (AA), Action Democratic Party (ADP), Action Peoples Party (APP), African Action Congress Party (AAP) and the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Others were the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Boot Party (BP), National Rescue Movement (NRM), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Social Democratic Party (SDP), Young Progressives Party (YPP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
The peace pact was supervised by the Commissioner of Police in Bayelsa, Mr Ben Okolo.
Okolo commended all the political parties in Bayelsa for going about their campaigns peacefully.
He noted that Bayelsa is one of the most peaceful states in Nigeria and urged all political parties not to instigate violence during and after the elections.
Okolo said adequate security arrangements would be provided and all should be law-abiding, during and after the elections.
In his remarks, INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner in Bayelsa, Mr Emmanuel Hart said the Commission has constantly engaged stakeholders to keep them abreast of progress made preparatory to the elections.
He said INEC had also worked tirelessly to deliver on its Constitutional mandate, guided strictly by the Electoral Act 2022 and its own guidelines.
He noted that INEC needed the cooperation of all stakeholders to conduct a free, fair, peaceful, transparent and credible elections acceptable to all.
“Activities of political parties from the moment the election timetable was published gave a clue to how the political space would be before, during and after the elections.
“If deliberate efforts are not made to check the excesses of some key players in the process the credibility and peace required for the success of the elections may be greatly compromised or jeopardised.
“Our meeting here today is a deliberate effort to domesticate the peace accord; a pact by all candidates participating in the elections here in Bayelsa.
“The pact will be signed by party chairmen on behalf of themselves and their candidates. This action will demonstrate to their followers and supporters that irrespective of differences in their political views and inclinations, they are first Bayelsa people.
“The elections will come and go, but Bayelsa will remain. It is also to remind leaders and their followers that they need one another to fulfil their goals to govern and deliver dividends to their constituents,’’ he said.
Chairman of the Traditional Rulers Council, King Bubraye Dakolo, urged all to toe the path of peace during and after the elections.
He urged all to always remember former President Goodluck Jonathan, who said “my ambition does not worth anybody’s blood.’’