Abdulsalami peace committee meets INEC chairman ahead 2019 polls

The peace committee chaired by Abdulsalami Abubakar, former head of state, met with Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja on Tuesday.

Abubakar said the committee decided to interact with stakeholders following the way the polity is being heated up ahead of the 2019 elections.

He also appealed to politicians to eschew violence and bitter.

“We are all aware that we are approaching the 2019 election and already you are very much aware how the polity is being heated as a result of which we have decided to step our action in ensuring that there is peace in the country and the politicians play by the rule of the game and also the security agencies and the INEC play their role accordingly,” he said.

“This morning we have interacted with the INEC chairman and his staff and also the security agencies here who have got one role or the other to perform in this election .

“All in all, we have had a briefing and later this afternoon we are going to meet the political parties and the chairmen of the 91 registered political parties in furtherance of ensuring that peace continue. We are going to listen to them, hear their complaints and also appeal to them to make sure that politics is played without bitterness.

“As you are very much aware if there is no peace in any country there would be no country at all . So this this is the essence of this meeting to ensure that we are all on the same wave length.”

Those who attended the meeting were Matthew Kukah, ; Catholic bishop of Sokoto diocese; former Vice-President Ebitu Ukiwe and Nicholas Okoh, an Anglican bishop.