Abdulsalami, Sultan, others meet Jonathan, insist on credible, peaceful polls

Leader of the National Peace Committee on
the 2015 general elections and former
Head of State Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar,
briefs State House correspondents after a
meeting with President Jonathan in Abuja
yesterday.
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Abdulsalami,
Sultan, others
meet Jonathan,
insist on credible,
peaceful polls
Category: Lead stories Published on Thursday, 26
March 2015.
The
National
Peace
Committee
for
the
2015
General
Elections,
headed
by
former
Head
of
State
General
Abdulsalami

Abubakar, yesterday met behind closed-doors
with President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja.
Members of the committee in attendance
included the Sultan of Sokoto Alhaji Muhammad
Sa’ad Abubakar, John Cardinal Onaiyekan,
Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe, Primate Church of
Nigeria Anglican Communion Most Rev. Nicholas
Okoh, Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah, among
others.
Addressing State House journalists, Abubakar
said his committee was trying to get
commitments to ensure that all politicians and
their followers, allow the elections to be free,
fair and peaceful.
He said his committee visited Jonathan to tell
him the role expected of him as the
Commander-in-Chief of the country and as a
contestant in Saturday’s presidential election.
He said the committee would also later
yesterday or today meet with the presidential
candidate of the opposition All Progressives
Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari
(rtd), to get a similar commitment from him.
Asked whether he was comfortable with the
current political atmosphere in the country, the
former head of state bemoaned campaigns of
calumny which, he said, had pervaded the pre-
election stage.
He said his committee had talked to all
contestants and leaders of political parties to
stop their supporters and campaign committees
from personalising the elections.
According to Abubakar, the politicians should
stop insulting one another and shun politics of
bitterness.
Surely if government like the election to be
credible, violence free, definitely it would be. I
think 3 things from the government side are
required. One, INEC should be allowed to exercise
their duty without any interruption. Two, the
electorate should be allowed to exercise their
civic right and make sure their vote count.
Three, government should also respect the
outcome of the election and handover the power
to the winner. If the above mentions points are
considered surely the election would be violence
free and credible.