Presidency to organise peace confab for politicians

Reports reaching Pulse say the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, is set to host a peace conference for all politicians in Nigeria, to foster unity.

Punch Newspapers reports that the conference will be held in partnership with Nigeria for Peace Initiative.

According to the Permanent Secretary, Political Affairs, in the Office of the SGF, Mrs. Ibukun Odusote, “This is to confirm that the Nigerian National Volunteer Service and the Political Affairs Office in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation are willing to partner with the National Peace-Building Outreach, also known as Nigeria for Peace Initiative, towards the organisation of the National Peace Conference, scheduled to hold in November.”

Speaking to newsmen, the National Liaison Director of,Nigeria for Peace Initiative (NPI), Mr. Kennedy Iyere said “During the 2015 general elections, we actually ran the biggest peace campaign that was non-partisan. We sensitised Nigerians and we are happy that we were able to organise a violence-free election. If you look around today, you still cannot say that the political atmosphere is not saturated with tension."

Adding that “The need for caution, to be taken ahead of the 2019 elections, exists. We do not have to wait till the elections come before we sensitise both politicians and Nigerians on the relevance of peace. There is the need to caution against fragmentation. The 2015 election is the most divisive we have ever had since the birth of modern democracy in Nigeria in 1999."

“With the sectional divisions, where the All Progressives Congress is strong in the North, South West and in some parts of South-East while the Peoples Democratic Party is strong in the South-South and South-East, we cannot deny the fact that we are fragmented. This, among other reasons, informed our decision to bring stakeholders together. We have been able to involve all the regional blocs," Iyere said.

The conference will be declared open by President Muhammadu Buhari.