Bayelsa State Police Command and the state government yesterday cautioned political parties in the state to conduct themselves in a manner that would not provoke violence before, during and after the December 5, governorship election in the state.
The state police commissioner, Nasiru Oki, said while the police in concert with other security agencies were playing their roles to ensure peaceful election in the state, the political parties benefiting from adequate protection during their campaigns, should avoid utterances and claims that could promote violent among their supporters.
The Bayelsa State commissioner for Information, Esueme Dan-Kikile, who spoke on behalf of the government, at a news conference in Yenagoa, said though peace is the panacea for free, fair and credible election, the recent inflammatory statements and hate campaigns by some political parties could trigger violence.
The commissioner urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies and stakeholders to be unbiased and impartial during the poll. “We condemn the act of violence allegedly perpetrated against the Peoples Democratic Party by the opposition party members. As the ruling party in the state, we will continue to ask our members and supporters not to react or retaliate to attacks and provocation by the opposition party supporters.
“We will continue to be law abiding, peaceful in our campaigns. Our party believes in issue based campaign aimed at improving the lives of the populace.We have gone to many communities in the course of our campaigns and seen the challenges facing our people. We have agreed as a party to develop framework to affect local communities in every facet of life.”
He sympathised with the injured PDP supporters, saying the party had lodged official complaints with the police as part of the measures to fish out the culprits for prosecution.
No comments :
Post a Comment