By Clifford Ndujihe  & Dayo Johnson

TO halt the growing tension in Ondo State ahead of the October 20 governorship poll, the 13 candidates and their parties, National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, a former Chief of the Defence Staff, General Alani Akinrinade, and other stakeholders, weekend, agreed on strategies to make the election peaceful, free and fair.

Rising from a sensitisation workshop for political parties and stakeholders in the governorship election organised by the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Inter Party Affairs, Senator Ben Obi, the stakeholders agreed to promote free and fair election and insisted that the will of voters must prevail at the election.

They also said the INEC should eschew bias in its operations and provide a level, playing field; all governorship candidates and parties should enlighten their supporters on the need to shun electoral malpractices; stakeholders must avoid and discourage use of violent language; and the media should avoid provocative reporting and ensure adequate and accurate coverage of the process.

Among those who spoke at the parley are 11 of the 13 candidates and one deputy governorship candidate; Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed; Robina Namusisi (country director, IRI Nigeria, Mourtade Deme (DGD-UNDP) and leaders of the political parties.

Jega, who was represented by the Commissioner-in-Charge of Political Parties, Hajia Amina Zakari, urged all contestants and stakeholders to adhere to the rules of the game and observe strictly the 2010 Political Parties Code of Conduct, by shunning anti-democratic practices such as intimidation of other candidates and create enabling conditions for citizens to vote freely for their leaders. He stated that INEC was truly independent and would conduct credible elections in Ondo State.

Akinrinade, who chaired the workshop, said that when an election was not free and fair, democracy would be eroded because bad and unwanted leaders would be foisted on the people. He also stressed that political killings and violence were not only antithetical to democracy but also satanic.

Senator Obi had earlier set the template for the discourse, stating that the objective was to come up with far-reaching recommendations to ensure free and fair elections that would be accepted by all.

Baba-Ahmed, the keynote speaker, said that the Ondo election would be a test case in Nigeria’s march to free and fair elections. Governor Olusegun Mimiko, who was the Special Guest of Honour, said free and fair election would strengthen the nation’s democracy and should not be compromised.

He appealed to INEC not only to be as an unbiased arbiter but should also be “”evidently seen as clean in the October 20 governorship election in Ondo State”.