*calls For Proactive Measures against flood In Nigeria
By; USMAN NASIDI, Kaduna
A group under the aegis of JESZ Development Foundation (J-Dev), and its North West lead partner/implementer of the Vote Not Fight Campaign and all its collaborators in the North West region, has strongly condemned the recent undemocratic act by some group of youth during the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) rally in Kaduna State.
A statement signed by Zigwai Ayuba, Executive Director JESZ Development Foundation, explained that security agencies need to deal with the perpetrators and their sponsors decisively, to discourage all forms of political violence and promote peaceful political participation.
Zigwai recalled that Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has released a document outlining the dates for the commencement of all campaigns for the 2023 general elections and the presidential campaign kick-started on September 28, 2022.
“So after all the political parties under the guidance of the National Peace Committee signed up to a peace accord for peaceful campaigns towards the 2023 general elections on the 29th of September 2022.
“But unfortunately, On 17th October 2022, the PDP held its presidential campaign rally at Ranchers Bees Stadium, Kaduna State and it is confirmed that some thugs disrupted the presidential campaign as reported by national dailies and on various social media handles.
“Meanwhile, this was further confirmed by a tweet from the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and a Facebook post by the state PDP Youth Leader, Aliyu Bello. An attack on one political party or its candidate is an attack on all political parties in the country. An attack of any form especially of violence, is also an attack against the vote not fight campaign.
“Therefore, we caution all political parties, candidates, and supporters against all actions that incite electoral violence, because according to the previous arrangements, every political party in the country has a right to campaign in any location of its choice without causing/inciting violence.”
Furthermore, In another development, the JESZ Development Foundation has sympathized with all those affected by the recent flood disaster in the North West zone of Nigeria and other parts of the country.
The group called on various state emergency agencies and also NEMA to do more at ensuring that the affected people find some relief materials, while encouraging people to do more in moving out from flood-prone areas after early warning reports that have been made public.
“We will continue to do our best to support processes that can make life better for all Nigerians. #VoteNotFight, #ElectionNoBeWar.” the statement added.
