As campaigns open for the 2019 elections, the Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed has cautioned political parties and their candidates to avoid utterances and slogans capable of rupturing the peace and harmony for which Kwara State is renowned.
Governor Ahmed, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant, Dr. Muyideen Akorede, said that while Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) has lifted the ban on electioneering campaigns, political parties and candidate should exercise the right to canvas votes with caution and avoid any utterances and slogans capable of pitching one section of the society against the other.
Alhaji Ahmed said he had received numerous complaints from the public regarding campaign slogan of a particular political party’s candidate over its capacity to stimulate disruption of public order and has since referred the issue to the relevant federal agencies for necessary peremptory action.
Governor Ahmed maintained that Kwara State has historically experienced peaceful and rancour-free campaigns on account of the accommodating and friendly nature of its diverse people as well as the decorum traditionally demonstrated by political parties and their candidates.
A deliberate effort, he said, should, therefore, be made by politicians to respect the religious, ethnic and primordial sensibilities of the people in conducting their campaigns given the prevailing mood of the nation.
Alhaji Ahmed urged anyone seeking to represent the people at any level in the state to keep in mind the need to sustain peace and harmony as good governance and indeed development can only be achieved in an atmosphere of peace and order that is devoid of tension, mutual suspicion and violent rhetoric.
