2019 Nigerian National Peace Accord – Full Text

Renewal of our pledges to peaceful elections – an accord signed by all the presidential candidates on Wednesday 13^th February 2019, ahead of the 2019 presidential elections:

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You may recall that on the 11^th of December, 2018, all of us the Presidential Candidates along with our Party Chairmen signed the 2019 National Peace Accord. The substance of the 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 again, we renew our commitment to a united, democratic and prosperous Nigeria. We want to appeal 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.

Elections have become almost universal since the end of the Cold War. Yet in many countries where elections are held, freedom and democracy are actually in retreat. Intended as mechanisms for the peaceful arbitration of political rivalries, they frequently become flashpoints for political violence. At the core of these paradoxes are elections without integrity. All too often, elections serve merely to give autocratic regimes a veneer of legitimacy. But elections without integrity cannot provide the winners with legitimacy, the losers with security and the public with confidence in their leaders and institutions. This makes polities fragile as it encourages disgruntled groups to find other, less constructive, channels for the expression of their discontent. The Kofi Annan Foundation and Electoral Integrity Initiative advise countries on how to strengthen the integrity and legitimacy of their electoral processes and avoid election-related violence. Looking beyond technical requirements, they focus on creating conditions for legitimate elections, making it possible to govern peaceably in a climate of trust.

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2019 Nigerian National Peace Accord – Full Text

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