Some Political parties in Enugu on Wednesday signed a Peace Accord for the forthcoming Local Government Elections scheduled to hold on Sept. 21 in the state.
The political parties signed the peace accord during a "Stakeholders' Engagement on the Enugu State 2024 Local Government Elections" organised by ActionAid Nigeria.
The People Democratic Party (PDP), All Progressive Congress (APC), Labour Party (LP) and others were not present during the signing while All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and African Democratic Congress (ADC) declined due to the absence of the ruling party at the meeting.
Speaking, the Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria, Andrew Mamedu, who did not disclose several political parties that signed the accord, expressed the need for political parties in the state to sign the peace agreement for the peaceful conduct of the election.
Mamedu represented by ActionAid Nigeria Head of Programme, Mr Celestine Odo, said the peace accord members were selected by different stakeholders to ensure that parties who were not present signed theirs before Friday.
"They will sign theirs because this process is being driven by the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) Justice Development Peace Commission (JDPC) and others".
According to him, the engagement is part of their broader strategy to address the historical challenges plaguing Local Government Elections in Nigeria, such as low voter turnout and the marginalization of women and youth.
"Our goal is to create a more inclusive, accountable, and transparent governance system while our specific objective is to improve stakeholder coordination for election security.
"We want to establish a collaborative framework between the Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC), law enforcement agencies, community leaders, and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs)," he said.
The Head of Programmes, South Sahara Social Development Organization, SSDO, Mr Udochukwu Egwim, declared that IPAC assured of getting other political parties to sign the Peace Accord before election day.
Presenting the overview of the election, the ENSIEC Chairman, Prof. Christian Ngwu, told the participants that the commission was prepared for the election, stressing that materials were ready on the ground.
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He said they would be collaborating with security agencies and engaging stakeholders to conduct credible, free and fair Local Government Elections in Enugu.
"ENSIEC will ensure the election reflects the will of the people," Ngwu said.
On the security, the State Commissioner of Police, Kanayo Uzuegbu, assured that police and other sister agencies would provide adequate security to ensure that the electorate votes without any form of victimization.
