Nigerian media call for violence-free elections

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ABUJA, NIGERIA, February 22nd, 2019 — Political activities in Nigeria will reach a new crescendo on Saturday, February 23, 2019, when Nigerians are expected to cast their votes at the rescheduled Presidential and National Assembly elections.

Some stakeholders have, however, expressed disappointment at violent situations in parts of the country on the eve of the elections.

On Friday in Abuja, media practitioners who have been monitoring the turn of events, particularly since INEC postponed the elections from February 16 to February 23, called for a peaceful process to enable the country to achieve free, fair, and credible elections.

They expressed dismay at the spate of killings on the eve of the rescheduled elections and called on all stakeholders to sheath their swords and allow for a peaceful atmosphere before, during, and after the elections.

The concerned media practitioners were reacting to reports that 66 people were killed in Zamfara in clashes between bandits and villagers on Thursday; on Wednesday, 20 farmers and hunters were killed in Benue; Boko Haram murdered 18 firewood sellers in Borno; and APC chairman in Imo was killed while having dinner with family on Tuesday night, just as two more people were killed when PDP and APC members clashed in Kwara.

In condemning these acts of violence, the media practitioners enjoined all stakeholders to think about peace whenever they were thinking about elections.

They called on all actors in the political scene – political parties, politicians, the electorate, INEC, and security operatives – to allow peace to permeate the exercise for the betterment of the country as “there cannot be development without peace.’’

It is the second time in two weeks that the media practitioners were calling for peace in preparation to the polls.

The media parley was facilitated by the international non-governmental organisation Search for Common Ground, which has been at the forefront of seeking peaceful solutions and common ground approaches to conflict situations.

The organisation assembled media practitioners from across the country in Abuja a fortnight back at a consultative meeting on ways of mitigating violence in elections.

At the end of the two-day meeting, the Nigerian media declared February 14, 2019, as the National Media Peace Day and made a declaration read by the President of the National Union of Journalists, Christopher Isiguzor.

In the declaration, the Nigerian Media enjoined all stakeholders in the electioneering process to put Nigeria first in all their actions during the build-up to the 2019 general elections and beyond.

The media practitioners also adopted #ThinkElectionsThinkPeace as the theme of this year’s National Media Peace day.

Signed,

Press contacts