Jonathan, Buhari Renew Peace Accord; Pledge To Accept Free, Fair Election Results

President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Gen. Muhammedu Buhari on Thursday signed another peace deal for violent-free elections. They had signed a similar agreement in January. Both candidates met Thursday morning at the Ladi Kwali hall, Sheraton Hotels, Abuja, to review the campaigns now that the campaigns have ended. The meeting which was facilitated by General Abdulsalam Abubakar-led National Peace Committee on 2015 Elections, saw the two main Presidential contestants pledging to accept the outcome of a free, fair and credible presidential election. At the end of the crucial meeting, both candidates signed another agreement to maintain peace and called on their candidates to conduct themselves peacefully and shun violence. They called on all Nigerians and their supporters to refrain from violence and acts capable of jeopardising their collective vision of free, fair and credible polls. They also called on the INEC and the security agencies to ensure strict adherence to their constitutional roles. Abubakar in his remarks expressed great delight that the two major contesting Presidential candidates could yield the call of signing the peace pact which assuredly will inject the consciousness of violence-free polls in the minds of Nigerian people. The wordings of the accord were read by Bishop Kukah, in a joint statement issued at the end of the meeting titled "Renewal of our pledges to peaceful elections". The accord reads in full: Joint statement issued by His Excellency, President Goodluck Jonathan and Major General Muhammad Buhari on Thursday, March 26, 2015 ahead of the 2015 presidential elections You may recall that on 14th January 2015, both of us, long with nine other party leaders signed what has now come to be known as the Abuja Accord. The substance of that Accord was our commitment to free, fair and credible elections in our dear country. In the Accord, we agreed to, among other things, run an issue-based campaign and pledged that our electoral campaigns will not involve any religious incitement, ethnic or tribal profiling, both by ourselves and all agents acting in our names. Now that the campaigns have come to an end, we meet today to renew our pledge for peaceful elections. We therefore call on all fellow citizens of our dear country, and our part supporters, to refrain from violence or any acts that may in any way jeopardise our collective vision of a free, fair and credible election. In addition, we call on INEC and all security agencies to ensure strict adherence to their constitutional roles. We also pledge to respect the outcome of free, fair and credible elections. Today, we again renew our commitment to a united, democratic and prosperous Nigeria. We want to all Nigerians to stand together at this critical phase of our nation’s history. Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria. God bless you all. Signed by Jonathan, Buhari and Abdusalam Abubakar.