The recent peace accord signed by the presidential candidates of different political parties on September 29, 2022 should not be taken for granted hence the need is to have a free and fair election and ensure zero violence during and after the election.

It comes to our notice that some unidentified hoodlums attacked the presidential convoy of the aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party in Maiduguri, Borno State on November 9, 2022 and that of his APC counterpart, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in Jos on November 15, 2022, after the two parties held their campaigns in the states.

On a serious note, one can’t tell the political party to which the assailants belong but surely they must belong to one political party or the other; they are allegedly hired by an unknown political party to disrupt the process and that shouldn’t be tolerated. As such, security agents should make sure to bring those involved to book and punish them decisively to serve as a deterrent to others.

Allowing such people to go free or unpunished would do more harm than good to the nation’s democratic system as well as escalate violence among the different political party supporters. For instance, if APC supporters disrupt a PDP rally, nothing would stop PDP fans from retaliating. Thus, it would generate a fiasco among supporters.

If you could recall, there was a clash in Kano on September 4, 2017 between Ganduje’s supporters and that of Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso the former governor of the state. The clash resulted in the wounding of the former SSG of the state, Rabiu Sulaiman Bichi and his younger brother and many more.

Similarly, on January 14, 2018, another clash erupted between the fan of the same people in the same state resulting in various degrees of injuries by the supporters. The two clashes have created tension in the entire state and as such many have stopped attending their business ground for fear of being harmed by the unscrupulous elements, which eventually affected the economy of the state before calm was restored.

Therefore, attacks during the campaign are an undemocratic move that is uncalled for in a country like ours where ethnicity, religion and cultural divides are a major concern. Also, it is one of the reasons why the nation’s democracy is unstable yet.

Therefore, political parties should warn their supporters from attacking or disrupting any political gathering hence the need is to have a violence-free campaign and a free and fair election across the country. But, undoubtedly, the current challenges bedevilling Nigeria are politically motivated and nothing more.

Political parties should warn their supporters

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