By Adadainfo
The Nsukka Journalists Foundation (NJF), Wednesday, called on various political parties and their candidates to eschew violence ahead of the March 11, 2023 governorship and Houses of Assembly elections in Enugu North zone of Enugu State.
Our correspondent reports that there have been reported threats of looming violence by some political actors ahead of the polls.
NJF, in a release by its public relations officer, Mr Emmanuel Ikechukwu Jonathan, cautioned all political actors and their associates against ‘adopting violence in an election designed to help us elect credible leaders to pilot the affairs of our dear state’.
The foundation urged the stakeholders to concentrate on issue-based campaign rather than ‘the obnoxious languages of harassment and intimidation of opponents’.
The statement read, “We remind all political actors in the entire Igbo Nsukka cultural zone that we are a united people tied to common cultural and ancestral ethos that abhor violence and blood-letting.
“Politicking in Nsukka is a process of electing the best among us in the quest for a better society. This is why we call on all actors in the coming elections to eschew all forms of violence in thoughts, words and actions, and embrace the more noble and sportsmanly attitude to electoral contests.”
The foundation called on Gov Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to use his good offices
‘to sue for peace and invite all players and stakeholders to emulate the examples of peaceful coexistence that he has long laid in the state’.
NJF added, “We also call on past and present political, business and traditional leaders in the state to rise in condemnation of threats to unleash violence on the state, particularly Enugu North zone.
“Peaceful elections in Enugu will benefit everybody and pave the way for the stronger understanding and deeper brotherhood, which is what NJF and all other political, social and religious groups in Enugu North and the entire state stand for.”
