•Urges candidates to accept poll results
President Goodluck Jonathan has appealed to politicians in the country that elections must not be mistaken for war despite differences and disagreement among political parties.
He made the call yesterday during a national broadcast on the 2015 general elections.
According to him, those planning to unleash violence during and after the elections would be dealt with according to law.
He said: “Democracy allows dissent. It encourages differences and even fervent disagreements. But elections must never be mistaken for war or an opportunity to set fellow citizens against each other and tear our beloved nation apart.
“Those who may harbour any intentions of testing our will by unleashing violence during the elections in order to advance their political ambitions should think again as all necessary measures have been put in place to ensure that any persons who breach the peace or cause public disorder during or after the elections are speedily apprehended and summarily dealt with according to our laws.
“The nation’s security agencies are also fully prepared and ready to deal decisively with any group or persons who attempt to disrupt the peaceful conduct of the elections or cause any form of public disorder.”
“Our dear country, Nigeria is the largest democracy amongst black nations of the world. We are a nation of great accomplishments, with a proud history of evolving affinities.
“Let us go out tomorrow to vote peacefully and set a fitting example of political maturity for other emerging democracies to follow,” he said.
Despite the challenges that have faced the nation since 1999, he said that the present democratic dispensation has continue to endure and grow stronger in keeping with the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians.
Stressing that the democracy in Nigeria in past 16 years is about to be put to the test again, he said that he believed without fear of contradiction that all Nigerians will never willingly give it up for any other form of governance.
He expressed appreciation for the opportunity and the support given to him to lead the nation in the past four years.
He said: “I urge you all to troop out en-masse to peacefully perform your civic duty of voting for leaders of your choice tomorrow.
“As we do so, let us all – political party leaders, contestants, party members, party agents, supporters and ordinary voters alike, be very conscious of the fact that the eyes of the entire world are on us.”
He urged Nigerians to comport themselves in a manner that will further strengthen the democracy and consolidate Nigeria’s place in the comity of truly democratic nations.
The President said he has given all necessary support for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct freer and more credible elections.
He said: “I made a commitment on assumption of office to progressively deliver freer, fairer and more credible elections in our country. In keeping with that commitment, the Federal Government has given the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) all necessary support to ensure that it conducts very successful elections tomorrow and on April 11.”
“We have all been assured that INEC is fully ready for the elections. I believe that we can all trust that they are certainly more ready now than they may have been before security issues and other concerns necessitated a re-scheduling of the dates for the 2015 general elections.”
According to him, millions of Nigerians have taken opportunity of the rescheduled elections to collect their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs)
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