Nigerian political parties on Tuesday signed a peace accord committing to a peaceful poll in 2019.
Although some key candidates were absent at the event, which held at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, others including President Muhammad Buhari, signed.
There are 91 registered political parties in the country, but it was not immediately clear how many parties signed the accord.
The event was organised by the National Peace Committee.
These are the details of the agreement the parties committed themselves to, as recorded in the signed document:
1. To run issue-based campaigns at national, state and local government levels; In this, we pledge to refrain from campaigns that will involve religious incitement ethnic or tribal profiling, both by ourselves and by all agents acting in our names;
2. To refrain from making or causing to make in our names or that of our party, any public statements, pronouncements, declarations or speeches that have the capacity to incite any form of violence before, during and after the elections;
3. To commit themselves and political parties to the monitoring of the adherence to the accord by a National Peace Committee made up of respected statesmen and women, traditional and religious leaders;
4. To support all the institutions of government including INEC and security agencies to act and be seen to act with impartiality
5. To forcefully and publicly speak out against provocative utterances and oppose all acts of electoral violence, whether perpetrated by supporters and/or opponents.
