One-time Military Head of State and Chairman of the Peace Committee, General Adbulasalami Abubakaron Thursday, February 19, 2015 discredit claims from certain quarters that President Goodluck Joathan planned to scuttle the forthcoming general elections and install an Interim National Government.
He made posited the stance at while addressing journalists in Abujam where he said the Peace Committee – which is made up of security chiefs as well as party and religious leaders – had gotten a commitment from President Jonathan that the elections will hold on March 28 and April 11, 2015 and that the Friday, may 29, 2015 hand over date was tentative and sacrosanct.
He therefore called on party leaders and politicians alike to put a leash on their supporters, as the country could not afford another round of post-election violence.
He said:
We have been meeting to review where we stopped at the last meeting. We are aware that the election dates have been shifted. There have been a lot of rumours going around the country, whether there are plans to form an interim government.
We have heard from the president that election will hold in March. He has also said that there are no plans to have an interim government. We are appealing to Nigerians to focus their minds on exercising their rights on election day.
During the meeting here we were fortunate to have the chairman of APC and representative of the PDP chairman. We are appealing to our youths to ensure that they are not used as thugs during the elections.
It is always the children of the poor that are used during the elections. We appeal to party leaders to tell their supporters and candidates to be law-abiding. We must ensure that the peace we have had so far is sustained.
We are going to have a meeting with the chairman of INEC to ascertain what has been done regarding their preparedness. We also discussed that during our meeting. We will ask INEC where they are currently.
The committee like every Nigerian is not happy with the violence and what happened in Rivers state. We are following the issue. Even if I give you a guarantee that there will be peace, I cannot dictate what you will do when you leave here. Nigerians must ensure we maintain peace.
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Those present at the Peace Committee meeting included the Peoples Democratic Party Deputy National Legal Adviser, Alhaji Bashir Maidugu, Chairman of Interparty Advisory Council, Tanko Yunisa, Presidential Adviser on Inter-party Affairs Ben Obi among other religious leaders.
