President Muhammadu Buhari has signed the Peace Accord ahead of the general elections in 2019.

The President joined other presidential candidates in forthcoming polls to sign the agreement on Tuesday at a ceremony in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

Some of the items on the accord include running an issue-based campaign, and refraining from speeches that would incite violence.

The accord also entails the candidates to support the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure a free and fair process, among others issues.

President Buhari was accompanied to the event by the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole.

However, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, and that of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), Dr Oby Ezekwesili, were among prominent candidates absent at the signing ceremony.

The Chairman of the National Peace Committee, General Abdulsalam Abubakar, and former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, urged various candidates to shun violence and support a peaceful exercise.

A former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mohammed Uwais, and the Ooni of Ife, Oba Ogunwusi Adeyeye, also admonished the candidates to conduct themselves in a peaceful manner.

Two similar agreements were signed in 2015, which required the candidates to avoid any act that may lead to the outbreak of violence, before, during and after the election.

•Sourced from a Channels TV report

• President Buhari signs the peace accord ahead of the coming elections at an event in Abuja on December 11, 2018.

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