Civil organisations urge PDP, APC to show commitment to peaceful election

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have called on political parties in Rivers re-run ;legislative election to use the remaining time before Saturday to assure Nigerians of their commitment to a peaceful poll.

The CSOs, under the umbrella of the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room (Situation Room) made the cal in their statement signed by Clement Nwankwo, the Executive Director, Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) on Wednesday in Abuja.

The Situation Room is made up of CSOs working in support of credible and transparent elections in Nigeria.

They also called on political parties to positively engage with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), from the leadership to polling unit level.

“We are gravely concerned that the major political parties have repeated the practice of making incendiary allegations along with direct and indirect threats ahead of the polls," the group said.

They also urged major political parties to deploy party agents who would engage stakeholders constructively and with civility thereby boosting public confidence in the checks and balances of the poll.

The CSOs noted the commitment shown by the security services to provide adequate security with deployment plans that followed the more successful approaches seen in Edo and Ondo.

“The commitment by the Deputy Inspector General Police to challenge vote buying is welcome and we hope to observe this effected firmly in a non-partisan manner.’’

The group, however, urged security services to monitor the behavior of their and ensure neutrality and provide clear public briefings of action against individuals or units who behave in a partisan manner.

The Situation Room advised INEC to show highest standards of neutrality in the exercise.

“INEC should also release widely within the minimum time of the poll.”

The CSOs called on voters and the people of Riversto have confidence in the process and to actively and peacefully turn out to vote in the election.