The main candidates in Nigeria’s presidential race have signed a peace accord to ensure a free and peaceful election on Saturday, but as campaigning ended Thursday, fighting broke out in Kano state, and a Senate candidate was killed in Enugu State the day before.
The four main presidential candidates signed a peace accord on Wednesday at an event attended by President Muhammadu Buhari, who is stepping down after his two terms in power.
“I implore the candidates contesting in these elections at all levels to respect the choice of voters and accept the results of the elections as announced by INEC [election commission], the agency empowered by law to do so," he said at the event in Abuja.
"Let me remind all Nigerians not for the first time that this is the only country we have, and we must do everything to keep it safe, united and peaceful," Buhari later tweeted.
More than 93 million Nigerians are registered to vote in a presidential race with 18 candidates, but only three are considered contenders: Bola Tinubu from Buhari’s ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC); former vice president Atiku Abubakar from the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP); and for the first time, a candidate not from one of the two major parties, Peter Obi of the Labour Party.
Pre-election violence
As candidates wrapped up campaigning on Thursday, fighting broke out in the northwestern city of Kano, where mobs wielding machete and clubs attacked supporters of presidential candidate Rabiu Kwankwaso, a former governor running for the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), injuring several people and burning cars.
With the second-largest number of registered voters after Lagos, Kano State, is a highly contested region.
The day before, on Wednesday, gunmen targeted vehicles from the parties of the three frontrunners in simultaneous incidents at separate locations in southeastern Enugu State.
A Labour Party senatorial candidate, Oyibo Chukwu and his driver were burned to death when their vehicle was set on fire with petrol bombs. A driver of a PDP campaign minibus was killed in a separate attack, and an attempted attack on the APC party’s gubernatorial candidate in Enugu was repelled.
Enugu State police said the attacks were carried out by suspected members of two Biafran separatist groups.
Calls for peaceful election
Nigeria's elections have been marked by violence, ethnic tensions, vote-buying and clashes between supporters of rival parties.
Six foreign governments on Thursday urged Nigeria to ensure a peaceful presidential election..
"It is vital for Nigeria's stability and democratic consolidation that the process is conducted and concluded safely, fairly and credibly," said a joint statement from the diplomatic missions of the US, Britain, Norway, Australia, Japan and Canada.
"We encourage all actors to intervene proactively to calm any tensions and avoid any violence."
(with newswires)
