Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State has restated his commitment to a violence-free process as the November 11 governorship election approaches.
The governor said this at a pre-election workshop organised by the state government in collaboration with the African Union Development Agency – New Partnership for Africa’s Development AUDA-NEPAD in Owerri, on Friday.
Uzodimma, represented by his Deputy, Prof. Placid Njoku, called on stakeholders in the electioneering process to work towards a peaceful poll to enable votes to count.
He advised politicians not to make the election a do-or-die affair, but to abide by the rule of law so that the will of the masses will be reflected in the ballot.
“Politicians using youths to destroy the system should not be given the opportunity to govern.
“Votes must count and I urge security agencies to go after anyone who attempts to jeopardise the process,“ he said.
A representative of the AUDA-NEPAD, Mrs Gloria Akobundu, said the promotion of democracy and good governance, one of the five pillars of the AU, could not be achieved where elections were marred with violence.
She charged the media and civil society organisations to “blow the trumpet of ‘No Violence’ during the election” and called for all hands to be on deck to ensure a peaceful, successful election.
According to reports, a highlight of the workshop was a road match by participants to publicly sensitise residents of the state to the gains of peaceful elections.
