Jacob Segun Olatunji – Abuja
The Nigeria Police Force on Monday charged Presidential Candidates of all political parties, particularly the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Peoples Democratic Party PDP, Labour Party, LP and the New Nigerian Peoples Party NNPP, to caution their party stalwarts and supporters against making inciting comments capable of unnecessarily heating up the polity and creating undue excitement amongst the electorates and the general populace in the country.
This was contained in a statement made available to news men in Abuja by the Force Public Relations Officer FPRO CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi’.
According to the statement, “the NPF, having assessed the trend of scaled-up expectations and psychological projections on the ongoing electoral process viz-a-viz collation of results, charges all presidential candidates, as leading and respected figures in their respective political parties, to seize the opportunity of this waiting period to emphasize the rule of law, respect for the Constitution, and constituted authority amongst their supporters, as we all owe a duty to ensure that the nation does not fall into anarchy on the basis of interests and sentiments”.
The statement added that the “Force similarly reiterates the need to desist from mounting undue pressure on the electoral process viz-a-viz the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the body which is constitutionally mandated with the conduct of elections and announcement of results, as all hands are on deck to speedily conclude collation of results and declare the winner.
“While commending the general populace and electorates for their patience thus far and largely lawful conduct around the country, the Police, therefore, encourages presidential candidates to admonish their supporters to uphold the tenets of the Peace Accord recently signed for the smooth conduct of the 2023 general election”. it further added.
