Election stakeholders in Anambra State have been urged to be alive to their responsibilities towards achieving a peaceful 2025 governorship election, improved democratic participation, and reducing political tensions in the area.
The Project Manager at Kukah Centre, Asabe Ndahi, made the call at a three-day Stakeholders’ validation forum which featured strategic advocacy visits
The Kukah Centre, the Secretariat of the National Peace Committee (NPC) organized the event under the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN).
On the occasion, various stakeholders including community leaders, religious leaders, INEC officials, media professionals, security agents as well as state and non-state actors validated findings from a context analysis earlier conducted across the state.
The analysis was targeted to generate practical recommendations for early warning systems, peace messaging, and stakeholder coordination.
The Project Manager, Kukah Centre, said the reports raised concerns about voter apathy in Anambra State, occasioned by factors, including insecurity, lack of trust in the electoral process, among others.
She was however happy that the stakeholders had promised to reverse the trend by adequately mobilizing their people to participate in the election.
“We have encouraged all the stakeholders to convince people who are under their spheres of influence to participate, believing that they will play their role in the exercise.
Peace accord on the way
She said, “The Kukah centre is the Secretariat of the National Peace Committee. The Peace Committee will be coming to sign the Peace Accord a few days to the elections.
“We want to do this groundwork to ensure that before the election proper, the stakeholders begin to welcome the idea of peaceful and credible elections and play an active role in achieving that.
“We are also taking back recommendations from the State to the National Peace Committee as the opinion of stakeholders here, and we believe that these recommendations will be actionable,” she posited.
The Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning officer of the Centre, Deborah Obafemi, said the organization seeks interventions that continually promote good governance, leadership development, memory preservation and human rights.
In her words, “We also have the election security information hub, responsible for gathering insight and data on election security across Nigeria.
“We will also ensure that we continue to have conversations with the stakeholders we have engaged these three days, to identify developments and make inputs towards addressing them.
Peace as overall objective
According to Obafemi, “Overall, the objective is to achieve peaceful and credible Anambra Governorship Election.”
In his remarks, the traditional ruler of Ifitedunu in Dunukofia Council Area of the state, Igwe Prof Chukwuemeka Ilouno, observed that laws to drive the peaceful conduct of elections are not in short supply in the country.
He however pointed out that the challenge is with the implementation of the laws and policies.
The royal father harped on the need for the traditional rulers to be adequately carried along in civic education sensitization activities, as grassroots leaders.
This, he noted would ensure that the people in the communities understand what steps are necessary for the society to progress.
ANCISRO mandate
For Chuka Nnabuife, Managing Director, Anambra State Civic and Social Reformation Office of the Governor, ANCISRO, the program aligns with the mandate of his organization.
ANCISRO’s mandate is to sensitize the citizenry to be alive to their civic responsibility of participating in the electoral processes that bring about leadership across different levels of governance.
He opined that the current political atmosphere in Anambra is that of positive expectation and of anxiety.
He called on the stakeholders to deepen the message of voter education in their localities.
A representative of the Disability Community at the event, Miss Chidinma Ajemba, expressed appreciation to the Kukah Centre and the partners for the engagements.
She described the engagements as fruitful in impressing on stakeholders the need to pursue peace as the election approaches.
