2019: We’ll hold Buhari to his words on peaceful polls — Sultan of Sokoto

The Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III, on Saturday urged Nigerians to hold President Muhammadu Buhari to his promise on the conduct of a free, fair and credible general elections in 2019.

Mr Abubakar made the statement at the 2018 second general meeting of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC), youths wings summit.

“President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed to ensure violence free campaign and free, fair and credible 2019 elections. So we will hold him to his words,” he said.

He said that Nigerians should take a stand and not to be used by politicians to cause violence especially during the forthcoming general elections.

Mr Abubakar said the second summit came at a time Nigeria had been politicised by the political class and that there was the need to sit as a family irrespective of their various religious.

He advised Nigerians to be united, adding that the summit was aimed at contributing to peaceful participation of inter religious groups on the 2019 election.

The sultan called on the youth not to allow themselves to be used by politicians to instigate violence of any kind.

In his remarks, the president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Samson Ayokunle, said that Nigerian youth should work together irrespective of their differences in their doctrines.

“We should use our different religions to move the country forward,” he said.

He advised the youth to emulate the partnership between the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs and CAN in the spirit of love between the leaders.

In his remarks, the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, represented by Emmanuel Ndagi said: “peaceful dialogue is the path way to peaceful coexistence”.

Mr Monguno said that security was a collective responsibility, adding that Nigerians should stay peaceful.

He urged the youth to ensure that Nigeria records peaceful elections and that the president was working to ensure free fair peaceful and credible elections in 2019.

He, however, added that the Federal Government, religious leaders, politicians as well as youths have critical roles in preventing the used of social media to propagate fake news, hate speech and any act capable of instigating violence.

The United States of America Ambassador, represented by David Young, Deputy Chief of Mission of embassy in Nigeria, said the U.S. was committed to supporting Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to achieve credible elections in Nigeria.

Mr Young commended the role of NIREC in mobilising Nigeria’s youth towards peaceful 2019 general elections.

He urged Nigerian youth to practice their faith and put it into action by loving God and their neighbors with all their hearts, “for faith without works is dead” .

Also speaking, the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, said the government is working seriously for the success of the forthcoming 2019 general election.

Mr Idris who was represented by Assistant Inspector General of Police Raheed Akintunde vowed that both vote buyers and sellers would be dealt with without fear or favour.

He urged the youth not to allow themselves be used as political thugs. (NAN)