Chairmen and spokespersons for political parties will also commit themselves to the smooth conduct of the exercise.
Candidates who are contesting for the 2023 presidential election will on September 29 sign a peace accord pledging to ensure a violence-free poll.
The event is expected to hold at the International Conference Centre in Abuja.
Chairmen and spokespersons for political parties will also commit themselves to the smooth conduct of the exercise.
Some of the top candidates are Omoyele Sowore of the African Action Congress; Bola Tinubu, All Progressives Congress; Atiku Abubakar, Peoples Democratic Party; Alhaji Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, New Nigeria People’s Party and Labour Party’s Peter Obi.
“In line with its mandate to support and facilitate along with other stakeholders, peaceful, free, fair, transparent, credible and safe elections, the NPC will organising the signing of two (2) National Peace Accords for the 2023 General Elections. The first signing is scheduled to happen at the start of the campaigns this September and the second in January of 2023 just before the elections.
“The first accord signing is intended to commit political parties, candidates and their spokespersons to conduct their campaigns (both online and offline) in a peaceful manner, devoid of ethnic, religious and hateful rhetoric to incite violence and further aggravate the growing tension insecurity in the nation,” an invitation by the National Peace Committee dated September 14, 2022, read.
According to the National Peace Committee’s 2022 peace accord, the candidates and their parties are expected to “commit themselves to support all institutions of government involved in conducting or securing the elections – in particular the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the security forces – to act with professionalism, impartiality and transparency”.
They are also expected to commit themselves to “ensure we, our party members and followers refrain from insults, intimidations, incitement and violence but conduct ourselves in accordance with the rule if law both online and offline, throughout the electoral process”.
They are to “condemn instigators and perpetrators of all acts of discrimination and violence particularly based privately and publicly on gender, ethnicity, belief, age and political affiliations” and “use peaceful, inclusive, respectful, culturally sensitive, educative and issue-based communications throughout the electoral processes”.